Home is Where the Heart Is
by Sarateg
Summary: An old friend reappears after an extended period of time away. How will the absence affect each of the brothers? Set in 2014 movieverse. Rated mainly for violence and suggestive situations. Raph/OC pairing
1. Chapter 1

Hello all and welcome to my fic. I posted a Fullmetal Alchemist story all the way back in 2005 and STILL get comments/emails about that story here in 2017. Years ago I figured I'd put my creative skills to the test, and decided to write an original fic, but between getting married, moving, working, deployments, kids, etc it still hadn't been finished.

Then I got this little plot bunny in my head and it dug so deep I couldn't ever fully get rid of it. Everytime I actually had time to sit down and work on my original fic this one started poking and bugging me. So I finally decided to just get it out and move on. It took me awhile, dealing with deployments and kids, but I've finally finished it!

The entire fic is finished, and I will be uploaded a new chapter every 1-3 days, depending on when I actually check the notifications on my phone :P Please review/comment whenever you'd like, and I hope y'all enjoy!

Chapter 1

Finally, fall was here. I love the summer, but I've definitely always looked forward to the slight chill that would cling to everything after sweating profusely for the last few months with the mid-year heat. Besides, the leaves change, and everything goes from green to lovely shades of red, orange, and gold as the trees prepare for their winter sleep.

The slight chill crept through the cracked taxi window and made the hairs on my arm stand straight up with goosebumps. I would definitely have to adjust my wardrobe soon and get used to this climate again. I had been gone a long time, a _really_ long time, I remembered, long enough that it might take a year or more to properly acclimate to the cold New York winters.

The taxi pulled up to the townhome I had lived in my entire childhood. It was a moderately large home in the middle of the city. I was fortunate to have a better upbringing than most, with many more options open due to my parents' wealth and status. My dad had a full career in the military before transferring to head up the emergency department at one of the hospitals here in the city. Shortly after starting high school is when he was elected to congress, so our family was in the spotlight quite frequently. I never really liked the extra attention our family got, though I never let any of it go to my head like some others, opting rather to downplay my upbringings and helping those less fortunate than myself. A part of all this is what made me want to leave home for school, eventually finding my way halfway across the world where no one would know who I was, or who I was related to.

A smile broke out on my face as I saw my mother reading in her favorite spot at the front of the house. The open windows allowed so much light and fresh air in that kept the house comfortable during the transition months. Some things never change it seemed. I exited the taxi and paid the driver as he helped me get my bags from the trunk of the car. I didn't have much during the past few years, and was thankful I didn't need to worry about the logistics of intercontinental household shipping. I only had to ship a couple boxes ahead of me, but I'm sure they had made it safely and were stowed away in my room upstairs.

"You sure you don't need help getting these inside, ma'am?" the taxi driver asked me, gesturing at the large bags he had set upon the curb. I shook my head and thanked him again before he waved goodbye and left.

It seemed the sound of the vehicle and our exchange alerted my mom to my return, as when I glanced at the house I saw her leaning out the window and waving excitedly to me.

"Elena! Welcome home!" she called before pulling herself back into the house. I could hear her calling my father's name as she moved to come greet me. She seemed to be the same as I always remembered with a few extra gray hairs mixed into her blonde hair and a couple extra crow's feet at her eyes.

"Hi, mom, it's been forever," I said as I put down my backpack to give her a large hug. At least it seemed like forever since I had left for college. The elder woman pulled back and pushed a strand of black locks behind my ear before smiling.

"Too long, dear…too long. Here, let me help you," she reached down to help me pick up my bags as my father appeared and grabbed me into a large bear hug, lifting me off the ground and twirling me.

"Oh Leelee! It's so good to have you home finally!" his reaction caused me to laugh and roll my eyes. He never gave up on that nickname it seemed. I always found it funny he could find a way to shorten any name, and he had nicknames for everyone; I doubt he called anyone by their real name. It's annoying but endearing.

"I thought your plane didn't land until tomorrow morning? I had it all set up for us to surprise you at the airport!" he exclaimed as he helped to drag my bags into the house and up the stairs to my room.

"Well, they had a couple spots open on the red eye so I jumped on the chance to surprise y'all," I panted as I finally got the last heavy bag to the top of the stairs and opened the door to the room I grew up in. Sure enough, neatly put away in the corner, were the boxes I had shipped ahead of me. A small smile came to my face as I realized I'd be able to unpack it and give their contents to the intended recipients soon.

"Here, I left everything as you had it. I haven't touched it since high school except for dusting and whatnot. I did get you some new sheets for your bed, though. Couldn't have a grown adult sleeping on superhero sheets, now could we?" my mother flitted about the room, retrieving the bags from my father and myself before putting them next to the boxes.

I laughed slightly before responding, "No, mom…I guess I'm all grown up now. No more superhero sheets for me. I have to be all 'adulty' and everything."

We went downstairs where the smell of cooking food finally registered in my brain. My stomach rumbled in response. Between all of the flights and layovers I hadn't really eaten much of anything except what I could scrounge out of vending machines, so something homemade sounded absolutely delicious at this point.

Dinner was fun with the parents. I caught up on everything that had happened over the past years since I had been gone. My eldest brother Nathaniel decided to follow in my dad's footsteps and join the military after college, he was stationed somewhere in DC with a cushy medical gig. Seems like he'll end up retiring out and working in a hospital just like dad. Not surprisingly my younger sister Anya decided to embrace her rebellious traits and moved in with her tattoo artist boyfriend. My parents weren't too thrilled, but from everything I had heard about the guy in the emails she and I had back and forth he didn't seem so bad. He just wasn't part of the 'normal type they'd like to see her with. " _People will talk_ ," they'd say.

If only they knew the kind of friends I had. They'd really lose their minds.

Speaking of friends…I had promised to come visit once I had returned home. Well, I had contacted one to make sure I still had the current directions as they moved frequently when we were all younger. From talking to him they had stayed in the same place for a bit now, but made sure I had the ins and outs on how to reach them. He seemed super excited to hear I was coming back, but promised to keep it a secret to everyone else.

I helped my parents clean up from dinner and headed upstairs to find one of the boxes I shipped home ahead of time. Inside contained mementos from my travels and studies, as well as gifts for my friends and their father; I hoped they liked them. I tucked the wrapped gifts into my backpack and headed back downstairs to find my parents nestled together on the couch watching TV in the living room. Dad had just stepped down from his position on the hill and had come back as a full administration head for his old hospital. Between all the years of him being gone across seas and then the capital they had a lot of catching up to do. And now that all the kids were out of the house they deserved some time to themselves.

Hearing my descent, my mother turned around and smiled warmly before noticing I was putting my shoes back on and grabbing a light jacket from the front hall closet. "Going out already dear? You just got home and must be exhausted. You're more than welcome to relax with us."

"I know mom, and I admit I am a little tired. But I also promised to meet up with some old friends when I got back. We've got a lot of catching up to do."

Her slight frown signaled she was unhappy, but wouldn't stop me from leaving. My dad just waved absentmindedly from the couch, knowing better than to even try and argue. Smart man, that one. He knows once I set my mind to something there's no changing it. I get it from him.

"Don't wait up, I've still got my key. I'll be home in a bit!" I dangled the shiny metal in a slight emphasis before exiting the house.

The autumn air was surprisingly chillier than I remembered as I descended the steps to the sidewalk and putting a quick postcard I bought at the airport in the outgoing mailbox. Pulling the jacket closer to me I hesitated and almost went back inside for something heavier, though I knew if I did I'd be questioned even more by my mom, and I _really_ didn't want to deal with that.

What better way to get used to the weather here than just to suck it up and deal with the cold. Oh well, it'll teach me a lesson for next time. Soon I'll be out of the slight wind anyway, since I was planning on taking the subway nearer to their home, then walk the rest of the way. Stretching out my legs after being cooped up on a plane for who knows how many hours seemed like a great idea. I began to walk and pulled out a small cellular device from my bag, quickly typing out a message that I was on my way, and placed it back in its pocket.

No matter where I've been and how I've traveled over these past years I can safely say that the New York subway system is part of my DNA. I thought I may be fuzzy on some areas, but instantly felt at home when I got down there. Navigating the routes came right back to me as if I had never left. I had definitely missed the familiarity of my surroundings and quickly settled into a seat before plugging my headphones in to pass the time.

It wasn't long before I found myself wading through the Saturday evening crowds towards the surface of the city. I walked around a bit before I was able to find a relatively empty area of town…now all I needed was an alleyway that had access to a manhole cover.

Most people wouldn't think twice about seeing a manhole cover in the streets, but I knew better. I knew what existed beneath the surface of the city's streets.

I crossed the street into the seedier part of the neighborhood and into the empty alleyway, walking from one end to the other to ensure it was truly empty before I withdrew a crowbar from my backpack to help lift the heavy cover from the ground. I lowered myself down into the darkness after using the tool to help drag the cover back over my head. It was always interesting to see the immediate change in noise level once you were below the surface of the streets.

Holding onto the ladder I swung my backpack around so I could replace the crowbar to the inside pouch and withdrew a flashlight. During the day it wasn't so bad, but at nighttime unless you memorized the area or could see in the dark you'd need some sort of light source. Descending down the ladder I landed on an elevated portion of concrete above the sewage water below.

Normal people wouldn't think twice; why would someone even _want_ to go down into a sewer? I'd actually had been doing it for years now…

 _Walking home from school alone had been a common occurrence for a couple years; most kids lived close to the posh neighborhood the school sat nearby anyway, so those who didn't get picked up in their mommy and daddy's fancy cars and SUVs were often in groups giggling and laughing as they walked home together towards the city's outer edges._

 _Not me, I was never one for being part of the "in" crowd. Mom and dad always pressured me to make more friends, more contacts I'm assuming for the network of adults they knew, but I never really found anyone who was genuine enough that I liked to hang around. Nathaniel never had any issues with friends, and Anya was a couple years behind me, so I was always pressured to play along. Ugh, I hated it._

 _Instead of being with the groups of giggling middle school girls who walked down looking into all of the expensive boutiques I walked alone, preferring the silence and peace to my thoughts. Granted, nowhere in New York was truly quiet, but I always took what I could get._

 _I had forgotten exactly what I was mad about that day, but I sulked as I walked past shops in the direction of my street._

 _Out of nowhere I saw a brief flash of light, and I looked in the direction it could have come from. What was that? All I saw was an electronics store with a bunch of televisions in the window. They all were blaring that weird Gwen Stefani song and video, "Hollaback girl" that was trendy among kids my age. I was never a big fan of pop music. Too loud and annoying. I would gladly take dad's classic rock any day of the week._

 _There…there was that flash of light again. But it was down low; maybe from the street? Well, that didn't make any sense. I looked around for a few more seconds when I finally noticed where the light came from. It was from under the street, but…_

 _Wait, are those *people* in the sewer? I can't really get a good look at them, since it was shaded, but it looks like there's a couple people down there. One is holding a pole or stick, I think, with a mirror attached to it, looking towards the television sets. It's bobbing slightly to and fro, like whoever was holding it was in time with the music._

 _So there's people living in the sewers now? Are they homeless? Maybe I could give them directions to the nearest facility that could help them. I crossed the street once the traffic lessened and stood just a foot or so above where I thought I saw them; it sounded like kids! Maybe even my age. Apparently an argument started amongst a couple of them, and I could hear their voices begin to move. Weird._

 _Anyways, I followed the voices best I could as they continued to move down the street. Sometimes I lost their sound, but then barely saw their forms moving past drain openings in the road, so I followed along the best I could until we were no longer in a busy section of the city. I could clearly hear the spat happening below me now, and could tell they were brothers since they poked fun at one another just like Nathaniel and I did constantly._

 _It saddened me to think they had to live in the sewer. We had a large homeless population within New York and it always upset me to think there were so many that had nothing when I had way more than needed. I realized I still had my sandwich from lunch earlier. Maybe they were hungry? I ran ahead as silently as I could and tried to plot where they'd pass a rain water run off point. I didn't want to scare them off by being loud, a lot of people were ashamed in their predicament and would probably run off. I just needed to get near them and show myself._

 _Good for me I was an 'experienced' younger sister, and thus had lots of practice in sneaking around._

 _I judged right and could still hear the boys' voices coming towards me. I laid down on the sidewalk and poked my face towards the opening just as they were about to pass._

 _"_ _Why hello there, boys!" I said enthusiastically as I put a big smile on my face and peered through the opening._

I chuckled at the memory of our first meeting as I wiped off my hands and pulled my long black hair into a ponytail, then into a knot; if there was one thing I learned the hard way it was to not have a lot of loose hair bouncing around while you're walking through a sewer.

Minutes passed by as I walk slowly on the elevated concrete above the water, using my flashlight to sweep back and forth along the area so as not to take any wrong turns or have a misstep. Nervousness began to rise from the pit of my stomach, and my dinner lurched slightly at the anxiety I felt towards my coming reunion. It _had_ been eight years since I had left New York to attend college, and though I had meant to visit, it just never panned out the way I wanted. I kept in touch with everyone as best I could while I was away, but it never made it any better that I wasn't _here._

Even living abroad it always felt like a piece of me was missing, that no matter who I met, dated, or hung out with it just never felt quite right. Every time I would remember fondly my times with the brothers and their father it always brought a smile to my face and warmed my heart.

I thought the four would surely run away as they were so afraid of being seen. Sure, they were different, but so was I. Mine was not as physically obvious as theirs were of course, and at first I was kind of weirded out, but just exchanging words for a few moments I realized they were good guys. They brought me down and introduced me to their father, who was not pleased at all at first of our chance encounter, but even he warmed up after time passed.

What went from a pretty lonely childhood blossomed into a wholly different me. I did better in school, didn't get into trouble so much, and generally flipped my whole attitude around because I finally knew people who accepted me for who I was, not who I was related to or the size of my parents' bank account. Hell, it was _because_ of them that I realized that I wanted to have a career and life, and for that I owed them.

I could hear the water gently moving by as I made my way further into the tunnels. I glanced up through the grates every so often to make sure I was on the right track and picked up my pace slightly. Not too much longer now. I ran over the directions in my head to make sure I was going the right way and began to look for the one particular pipe. Oh wait, there it is over there.

I reached up and rested my hand on the cool metal of the curved pipe hidden somewhat in the wall. Just glancing and it looked like all the other pipes that ran underground here, but this one had a small section removed and replaced with a slightly different pipe. Just enough change in detail for an expectant eye to pick up.

Welp…There's no turning back now I guess. Not that I'd really do that anyway.

I pulled slightly on the curved metal and stood back as a large section of wall shifted and opened up, allowing me access to what was beyond. I stepped in quickly before the wall closed back, the hiss of it sealing behind me instantly clearing the air of the typical foul stench outside. It was quite pleasant and warm in here, unlike how it always used to be. That brainiac finally figured out how to do it…I'll have to bug him about it later.

The sound of an unexpected guest definitely caught the attention of the lair's inhabitants. They were all seated at the table eating dinner when the sound of my entrance alerted them to an intruder. Three of the four inhabitants quickly jumped up and grabbed their weapon of choice. The fourth quietly continued eating his slice of pizza as he smiled and put his feet up on one of his brother's now empty chairs.

I smiled brightly at my friends, my turtles.

"Why hello there, boys."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Wait, so you just got in a few hours ago, and you just _now_ decide to tell me? Angelcakes, I'm hurt. You should have totally called me from the tarmac," Michelangelo pouted as he got me a soda from their refrigerator, "I thought we were tight, yo, like goin' steady." I took the can and popped the top before taking a long swig of the sugary liquid. The caffeine would definitely come in handy this evening.

Before I could even provide a comeback the orange-clad turtle turned towards Donatello, "And you, bro…You kept it from all of us." A moment of silence passed as he contemplated, "Nice work dude."

I smiled at his cheerful attitude and could always rely on him to make me smile when I had a bad day. He was actually the first one to run down and swing me around in the biggest hug I ever had once the they realized there was no danger to their home. Raphael, the largest of the four brothers, came down and put his hands on Mikey's shoulders in order to stop him from making me sick with my already fluttering stomach. He gave me a brief one-armed squeeze before opening it up for Leonardo and Donatello to make their way down to the entrance for their own welcoming hugs.

Instead of eating at the table they all situated their pizza boxes in the living room so we all could sit comfortably on the couches and chairs they pulled up together. Master Splinter, their father, finally emerged from his meditation and gave me a long and warm hug.

I could tell the years had changed them all. Splinter moved much slower than I remembered, and streaks of silver and white ran through his fur and goatee. And then the turtles. Man, apparently they all hit a major growth spurt after I had left because they were all _huge_ compared to when I last saw them. Even Michelangelo, the smallest but fastest of the four brothers, had a good four or five inches on my medium height; everyone else easily stood at six foot and above.

Each one still wore their signature color, but I could tell the past eight years had been hard on them. Their shells and bodies had many marks and scars from previous battles and brawls. I knew about some of their enemies and seen what could happen to them after a hard battle, but they tried to keep me out of that part of their life for my own safety. I even contemplated going into medicine myself, if only to learn how to help patch them up. All I really knew is that a few years after our first meeting they began training hard core in ninjitsu, and because of that the crime rate began falling in the city. It really doesn't take a genius to put two and two together. Everytime I'd see a report on the TV I knew they must've had a hand in saving the city.

But they urged me to stay away from that side of their lives, so I agreed and tried not to pry as much as possible.

"So babe, how long you going to be here for? Enough time for us to finally hook up?" Mikey sat down next to me on the couch and put his arm around my shoulder. I heard a brief 'knock it off' come from Raph as he slapped the back of his baby brother's head. I inwardly smiled; Mikey had always acted like this even when we were kids, so it never felt awkward.

I sat forward and reached for another slice of pizza, "Well, I think it may be for a decent amount of time anyway. I'm trying to figure out what to do next to get my career off the ground."

"And what might that be, Miss Carter," Splinter asked inquisitively while sipping his green tea. He was always so polite, even after all these years he had never called me by just my first name.

"I'm still debating that," I replied after I had swallowed my mouthful. "I mean, there's so many options and routes I could theoretically take, but after finishing both degrees and spending time abroad I wanted to take at least a year here to clear my head and figure out what my choices were."

"I'm sure with everything you've accomplished it shouldn't be too hard for you to find something you'd love doing," Leonardo input softly, "that's truly what's important in life…loving what you have and do." He took after Splinter a lot since I've been gone. He's much mellower than I remembered, not that he was some wild child as a kid before though, and always thought a great bit before interjecting his opinions.

I nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I'm going to start apartment hunting tomorrow so I don't have to stay at mom and dad's forever. As much a nice place it is, I'm so used to being on my own that I think it would feel weird to stay there for any extended time."

I leaned over and punched Mikey in the shoulder slightly, eliciting a death groan as he fell over and played dead on the other side of the sofa, "so if you guys know of any places that are decent and with easy access to here I'd appreciate it."

"Right above us isn't exactly the best part 'a town, ya know," Raphael piped in. "There's lots a criminals and gangs out there that would have fun with a girl like you."

"I know, which is why I'm asking you guys. But to quote Tolkien 'the closer I am to danger, the further I am from harm'," I laughed slightly at my nerdy joke, and heard a small chuckle come from Donnie's direction. Well, at least one of them got it.

The large turtle frowned at my attempt at a joke, "Elena, this isn't funny. Just find a place over by your parents' house. The police patrol over there more often so it'd be safer…"

"Yeah, because all the rich people freak out when so much as a TV plays too loud, so they call because _obviously_ someone can't respect them to not disturb their peace…in the middle of the afternoon."

"Maybe Raph is right, Elena," Leo interjected, " I know it's annoying sometimes, but maybe it would be safer for you to stay over on that side of town."

I sighed and reached up to massage the bridge of my nose; I really didn't want a headache to start now. "I seriously think I will be fine, you guys. I've been to a lot of places now, and I know not to play the whole 'helpless female' thing. I mean, I carry mace and taser wherever I go, so I'm fine…really."

I shot a look when I heard a brief snort come from Raph's general direction. How dare he think he gets to tell me how to protect myself. Does he think he's better than me?

"Hey guys, how about this," Donatello interrupted as he pulled one of this laptops from the back of his shell; I literally used to think he carried an entire Radio Shack back there when we were younger. He constantly tinkered with gadgets and gizmos and it seemed he still did that. He popped open the laptop and pushed up his glasses before typing quickly across the keys, "I'll help her look for something suitable, and once we find something I'll be able to set her up with a nice security system that we can monitor and will let us know if there's anything amiss. How's that?"

The sound of Donnie's typing echoed throughout the lair as everyone contemplated his idea. It sounded like a great idea to me, and looking over at Mikey I could see his smile erupt as he saw the mischievousness in my eyes.

"Welcome to the neighborhood," he said as he shook my hand. "Just let me know when we're throwing the housewarming party. I can totally DJ," he said while making motions as if he was at a DJ booth.

I could see the frown from both Raph and Leo out of the corner of my eyes, so I decided to change the subject _real_ quick. "Soooooo, speaking of travels, you guys want presents?"

Without even waiting for a reaction I jumped up from my spot on the couch and ran over to where I had tossed my backpack. I unzipped and dug around through my other essentials before coming back with the five wrapped presents I brought with me.

"Here, Master Splinter, we'll start with you," I said as I handed over a small box over to the human-sized rat. He eyed the paper before delicately unwrapping the gift, setting aside the wrapping as if itself were a gift. The box contained a small tea set that could steep and pour tea brewed from loose tea leaves without the chance of having a ton of leaves at the bottom of the cup.

"I had it handmade for you from a lady down the street where I stayed at in Japan. We had many cups ourselves together and she painted that countryside with the cherry blossoms on it especially for you."

"Thank you, child, it is a beautiful piece of craftsmanship and will be well used," his gravely voice responded after a moment of speechlessness.

"Oh, and I also found a subscription for a tea-of-the-month type club from over there that will deliver to my house a new type of loose leaf for you to try each month," I followed on with. "Between it being tea and where it's from I figured it would be a win."

For Donnie, I found a subscription to a magazine that held the most innovative and newest technology to come out of Japan. You know it's something good when the turtle stopped typing to drown himself in the first issue I brought with me.

Mikey tore into his package to find a slew of vinyl decals to adorn on his skateboard. Japanese bands, artists, anything that caught my eye got put into an ever growing pile, and I knew he had a lot of options to choose from. He had enough to even change it up once a week for a year if he wanted, which…knowing him he very well may do. I did get an "I'm not worthy" charade from Wayne's World for that one.

For Leonardo I found a decoration for one of the holsters that held the katanas to his back. I know just how close he was with everyone, and seemed to be the backbone of their little clan (besides Master Splinter) when it came to the brothers doing their nightly patrols and whatnot. It was a simple blue design that had the kanji for the word "family" etched into it. He smiled warmly and instantly attached it to the leather strap that held his NYC button.

Raphael opened his package to find a nice pair of sunglasses that appeared black, but were actually a dark red. He raised an eye ridge when he saw the pair, "Well, you always acted like such a badass when we were younger I figured you'd better look the part."

I didn't want to admit it, but he was the hardest to buy for out of the five family members. We talked and joked around occasionally when we were younger, but not nearly as much as I did with all the other turtles. He always kind of kept his distance, but I chalked that up to his personality; the lone wolf. Even though he wanted to act all tough guy around me and his brothers I could always tell he would do anything for his family in their time of need. It was an endearing quality, though not one I was going to point out in front of anyone.

"Thanks," he said after a moment's silence. I really don't know if he even liked them or not until he put them on and smiled in my direction, "Hey, do I look bad ass enough?"

I nearly inhaled my soda and I laughed out loud at his joke; I wasn't expecting _that_ kind of reaction. I nodded and hit my chest a couple of times to clear my airway before choking out sarcastically, "Yup, certifiable grade-A bad ass right there. The baddest of the asses if I do say so myself."

"These gifts were very thoughtful, thank you Miss Carter. I would like to just say that I think we all agree that we're glad to have you back in town," I heard Splinter say from his chair. The others voiced their approval as well and we all spent the next few hours reminiscing and relaxing to what remained of the pizza and soda.

By the time I checked my watch it was well past two in the morning; much later than I had originally planned on staying. I guess time does fly when you're having fun, eh?

Master Splinter had retired to his room well over an hour ago; Michelangelo, usually the night owl, was fast asleep snoring loudly on the couch. Donnie gave me a hug before retiring for the night, smiling and pleased our secret plan actually worked. He's never been that good at holding a secret, much like Mikey, so he was worried somehow someone would beat it out of him.

I yawned before I took the last swig from my soda. The caffeine really hadn't helped since a couple hours ago, so I didn't even know why I was still drinking it.

Leo eyed my yawns. "If you'd like we could set you up one of the other rooms we have so you can sleep. I know you're probably exhausted from all the travel you've done the past couple of days."

I shook my head sleepily and smiled as I stood up to stretch, "nah, thanks though. Even though I'm twenty-five I have a feeling my mom will put out an APB if she doesn't see me in my room in the morning." I gathered up the boxes and soda cans before taking them into the kitchen for disposal. "Yet another reason why I think it's best I find something out in town."

"Well, I'll take you back up to the surface and over to the subway to make sure you get home ok," the eldest brother proclaimed as he watched me grab my flashlight from my bag before closing it and putting my hair up once again.

"Leo, as much as I'd appreciate that, you _really_ don't have to. No one is going to be out this late at night, and the subway station is just across the street from where I came in at."

I could see his frown from across the room, but I didn't think he realized we weren't little children anymore.

I heard a throat clear from across the room and as we both turned towards the sound I saw Raph stand up from his chair.

"How 'bout this. I'm not tired yet, but Leo, I know you get up ass early to start training. I'll take Elena back to the subway station and everyone's happy. Ok? Ok," the finality in his voice took me by surprise slightly, but I nodded my head in approval. I just didn't want to be a bother to the guys, but if Raph was going to be up anyway…I guess the company in the sewer wouldn't be so bad.

I could see Leonardo's face turn from me, to Raphael, back to me. I shrugged my shoulders and pointed at his glasses which sat on top of his bandana, "See? I called it. He thinks he's a total bad ass."

The sound of both their laughs rang lightly through the room and I waved to Leo as I exited the lair back into the sewer.

The walk back towards where I had entered was silent for the most part, our footsteps echoing into the inky blackness of night underground. Even through the silence, though, I felt at ease with the giant turtle following behind me.

"You sure you want to find somewhere to live on this side of town? We weren't joking when we said that it wasn't the nicest neighborhood," his voice came from nowhere as we walked.

I thought for a moment before responding. "Well, I always hated being known as 'Dr. Carter's daughter this, and Congressman's daughter that'. I just want to be known as, well… _me_. Not for stuff my dad has done. I always feel like I'm in my older brother's shadow, that he can do no wrong and everyone should just fall in line." I laughed quietly, "I think that's partly why Anya is the way she is. Whereas I decided to just get the hell out of dodge she stayed and fought the system, ya know? I just kind of want to distance myself from all that, and the best way would be to get out of their house."

I looked up at him and could see his light green eyes thinking hard before looking back down at me and nodding, "Yeah, I get the whole brother thing. I think we would just feel better if we knew where you stayed was a little safer."

"Raphael, do you guys _really_ worry about me all that much?" I poked fun at him a little, "I mean, I'm not a little girl anymore, and it's been years since I've needed a babysitter. Besides, I've lived and traveled across the world by myself for over a year now, where some of those countries don't exactly keep women at the top of their respect list."

"You don't know what's out there though."

"Yeah," I laughed, "Weirder than four six foot turtles who walk around and are ninjas? And their human sized rat father?"

I could see him trying to form an opinion that wouldn't be vulgar. Maybe I pushed him a little far. "OK, look. I'll find a couple places and let you guys check them out if it makes you feel better." His eyes came back down to me as I stopped at the ladder I used to climb down into the sewers earlier. He thought for a moment before nodding and climbing up ahead of me. This late in the night there wasn't a big chance for him to be seen in a very dark alleyway.

I climbed about halfway before feeling two thick arms reach under my own and lift me up the rest of the way and setting me down on my feet. I was not expecting the gesture and stumbled as my feet met the pavement; he had to steady me so I wouldn't faceplant on the concrete.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," his deep voice said quietly as he quickly removed his hands once I got my balance back.

I laughed slightly at the situation, "No, you're good. No worries." Looking around I was able to get my bearings and realize which way the subway station was.

"Donnie gave you directions into the sewers from here?" I could see him look around and frown slightly at the surrounding area. It was a rundown neighborhood, but mostly residential so I figured it was safer.

"No, he didn't, so don't go back and punch him in the face," I said jokingly, though serious too since I know he had done it before on many occasions. "I can look up google maps too and realized this was a lot closer to the lair, and truthfully, I'd much rather walk through a neighborhood than the sewers…no offense."

His frown lessened, but disappeared when I placed my hand on his shoulder. "Look, I appreciate all of you worrying about me, it's sweet. But I've seen a lot of stuff when I traveled across seas, and I think I can take care of myself. I've done it for the past eight years and look," I gesture to my body, "I'm still here."

There was more than one way to realize when Raph was irritated, and the silence he exuded right now was one of them. Whereas he typically would just yell and curse at his brothers he never really did that with me. I don't know if it was just because I was a girl or what, but right now I was grateful. Even his quiet anger could be kind of scary.

"Look, just use that cell Donnie gave you and let me know when you get home, ok?" The abruptness of his statement took me off guard so I merely nodded lightly before adjusting the bag on my back.

"Elena, I'm-" he trailed off as if he couldn't find the right words to say. He looked almost guilty at his outburst.

"It's all good. I'll text you the moment I step into the house," I replied in the absence of his words. Each moment that passed I felt more tired, so I reached up to wrap my arms around his neck to give him a hug. I could feel the big turtle freeze under me before leaning down slightly and slowly wrapping his arms around me for a brief few moments. I let go and waved at him before walking towards the road, making sure there were no cars coming before I crossed the street and headed towards the subway station.

A headache had threatened to form once I began walking towards the brighter lights of the illuminated area for the subway entrance, so I rubbed my eyes in an attempt to help the pain subside. The lack of sleep over the past few days was starting to take its toll, and the more I thought about it the more the bed at my parents' house seemed so inviting.

The only thing that would be better would be to find my own place. Soon enough, Elena, soon enough.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ever since our first meeting, Elena had never cared that my brothers and I were different from her. In fact, it seemed that _because_ of our differences it drew her closer to us. I hadn't thought about it in years, but that first meeting I think was a shift in all of our lives.

 _"_ _So, what exactly *are* you guys?" the young girl had asked inquisitively as she eyed each one of my brothers and myself. She had heard our usual banter back and forth beneath the surface and had stuck her face down into an opening where rainwater would run off into the sewers. Needless to say she had surprised us all, and we were taken back when she didn't scream or run off instantly when she saw our…differences. There had only been one other time where someone had caught a glimpse of us at nighttime as we goofed off in what we thought was a secluded section of the park, but they had run off screaming. After that dad made us stay in the sewers in order to conceal who and what we were._

 _But this chick…her reaction made it seem like she saw walking turtles every other day._

 _I heard Mikey make his moves on the girl, and I rolled my eyes in irritation. Between my nerd and playboy wannabe brothers I'm surprised she even took us seriously. But here she was, down under the surface, because Mikey just *had* to go find a spot to let her down here when he realized she wanted to talk._

 _I don't see why he even cared. It's not like she was going to stick around or anything. We're probably some sort of freak show to her anyway, and she'll go and blab to all her yuppie friends about the freaks in the sewer. I looked over to Leo and could see him trying to analyze the situation as he quietly talked with her. He's just like dad, but has a larger stick up his ass and tries to be just like him._

 _"_ _What's your name?" her gray eyes settled on me as I realized everyone else had introduced themselves. Ugh, now she wanted to talk to me. I didn't have time for this shit._

 _"_ _Why does it matter? Don't you have somewhere better to be?" I snarled out as I hiked up my vest closer to me and stormed off away from the group. Dad's not going to be happy that a human of all things found us because we decided to be too loud._

 _I vaguely heard Leo apologize for my attitude and tell her my name as well. Whatever, it's not like she'll be around long enough to remember any of us._

I frowned as I remembered our first interaction. I admit, I was an asshole back then, hell, I'm still an asshole now. But apparently that wasn't enough to stop this chick from hanging around us. After that day she and my brothers had made plans to meet again. They had even kept it a secret from dad for a couple of weeks because they knew he'd be pissed off at us. Which pissed me off more because I got in just as much trouble as they did when he _did_ find out. I had nothing to do with it, but I ain't no snitch either so I just did my own thing while they all hung out.

I was actually kind of glad at the time when dad did find out, because I thought he would put a kebosh on the whole thing. Make this chick get back to her life and leave us alone. But no, after my brothers introduced her to him he took a liking to her too and allowed everyone to continue talking as long as she promised to not tell anyone else about us.

She stuck around over the years and I admit she turned into like a sister for us. I didn't go out of my way to spend time with her, but I didn't do that with my brothers either though. When she was about to graduate high school she dropped the news that she would be leaving to go to college. Of course she was leaving, it was inevitable she would drop us like a bad habit when she needed to go off and live her life. There wasn't anything normal about us, there was no way we'd ever _have_ a normal life, so why would any of us expect she'd stick around?

After she left we kind of just moved on with what we did, had some hard core battles, even our own fights with each other. I knew the other guys kept in touch with her every once in awhile, but I never found a need to. It's not like she was ever coming back.

But she did. I never expected her to walk through our lair door tonight, and it took me completely by surprise. And not only that, but the past eight years apparently allowed her to grow into herself. She wasn't how I remember her, this sort of gangly teenage girl. Now she was smokin' hot.

Which is really gross to think about since she's what I'd like to call my sister. There are just some lines that shouldn't be crossed. And hell, it's not like she'd even be interested anyway. Humans wouldn't look twice at freaks like my brothers and I. Someone like her, with her shapes and curves could never go for a hulk like me.

I shook my head in disgust as a cold breeze got my attention. What the hell Raph?

I pulled out my cell for what seemed like the hundredth time that evening, waiting to see a message pop up that she was home safe. Of course I knew she hadn't made it home yet, though.

The moment she had crossed that street I quietly leapt up the nearby fire escapes to the roof of the apartment complex we were in between, watching from the edge of the building as she descended into the depths of the subway system.

And now here I sat, across from her house in this ritzy neighborhood, waiting for her to turn the corner and walk down the street to her parents' home. Why did I come here? I don't really know myself. I had been sitting here for the past half hour asking myself that same very question over and over.

I was never really nice to her as we grew up; I didn't go out of my way to hang out like my brothers did. And I never really paid much attention to her either, preferring either to be by myself or train with my sais. She was my family, so if anyone ever bothered her I'd stomp their ass into the ground, just like I would do to protect my own brothers, dad, April, and a few select others. So why the shift tonight?

I felt the hard plastic from the sunglasses perched on top of my bandana. She had thought of me when she lived on her own; thought about all of us when she was gone. And I didn't give one second of thought to her after she left. I'm an ass, but even _that_ is kind of low for me.

She came back, but it's up in the air as to if she's leaving again. Maybe I should make more of an effort to talk to her more since I know she's a permanent fixture in our lives. Even if she leaves again I know my bros will probably never shut up about her now.

I released a small breath I didn't realize I had been holding when I finally saw her figure turn the corner to finish the trek to her parents' house. I couldn't go near all the lights from the subway stations, so all I could do is take the shortcuts across the city's rooftops and beat her here so no one would see me. Those moments of uncertainty, of not knowing if she was ok, dug into my side as I sat here waiting for her.

Elena had no clue just how many things in this city could hurt her; not only the city, but the world and probably even universe. I really tried not laughing in her face when she proclaimed that she could take care of herself because she carried mace. _Mace?_ And a friggin taser? That was her idea of "taking care of herself"? Like that would do a helluva lot of good with some of the more seasoned purple dragons and foot clan. And don't even get me started with some of the weirder shit we've dealt with. It had been quiet as of recently, but the moment you let your guard down is the moment when it all comes crashing down around you.

A thought crossed my mind as I watched her finally reach the house and unlock the door. I'll have to run it by Leo, but I think he would be on board with it…same as the others. A few moments after I saw the door closed behind her I felt my cellphone buzz. Sure enough, I look down to see the message.

 _Home safe, bad ass. Thanks again for a fun night and hope to see y'all soon._

A small smirk formed as I read the text message. Yeah, we'll see each other soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Ok, so out of these three remaining ones, which ones do you guys like the best?" My tablet turned back towards the four turtles sitting at the table before me. I had decided to pull up the apartment listings I had narrowed down to see their thoughts on my selections. I reached over the screen and pointed at the one in the middle, "That one has the benefit of being right by a subway station, so it'd be easy for me to get around because I'd rather not deal with driving or owning a vehicle in this city." I went back to the food I had simmering on the stove and gave it a stir. It was time these boys ate something _besides_ pizza, so I brought down some groceries to cook them some homemade jambalaya. When I was in school down south I had definitely picked up a taste for their food.

"The other two are ok as well. I actually went and visited all of them to check them out in person, so I'm really six-way-half-dozen-the-other on all three," I continued after taking a small taste of the rice mixture. It was just about time to add the shrimp and we'd be ready to eat. I added some more dashes of hot sauce as well; a little heat never hurt anyone.

Turning back, I could see all four brothers looking at the listings on my tablet. It had been almost a week since I had returned from Japan and I delved quickly into looking for my own place. Fortunately I had a decent stash of money saved up from when I worked during college, as well as money from my college fund my parents had set up for me as a child. I had received a full ride through scholarships and decided to go to a less expensive and prestigious school than they would have preferred, so had some left over to live on. I could probably go a whole year or two on that alone while I figured out my future.

"Well this one has the benefit of being on a corner lot, so there would be plenty of exit points if needed," Donnie quipped as he pointed to one of the pictures.

"Yeah, but exit points are also entry points, so a double edged sword," Leo responded.

Mikey laughed at this statement, "Coming from our slice and dice brother, good one bro. I just see it as having plenty of options for me to drop by and woo my lady," a wiggle of his eye ridges sent me into fits of laughter. He yelled as he was slapped from behind by Raph, who was currently leaning over the others to look at the screen.

"But, get this too. It's on the top floor, so easy access to the roof, it's got an alleyway next to it _with_ an entrance to the sewers, so it'll be easy for you guys to get in without being seen. And…" I trailed off into silence to make sure I had their full attention.

"It's just a block from Reginella's."

"SOLD!" Michelangelo screamed before jumping up to twirl me around. Reginella's was a local mom and pop pizza shop that they boys were so fond of. So I knew that little tidbit would be the icing on the cake. I laughed as my feet landed back on the ground and I held onto the counter to keep my balance.

The three other brothers took a second to form their own thoughts before looking at each other and smiling in agreement. "Ooo, does that mean that's the one? Ohpleaseohpleaseohplease," the youngest brother begged the others.

Donnie hit the sleep button on the top of the screen and slid it back over to my side of the table, "I've been working on some security measures for any place you might have picked, so whenever you're ready to move in just let me know and we'll be set."

I nodded, excited that I had finally found something that I liked and that everyone could agree on. Mikey stayed in the kitchen with me while the other three dispersed and went off to do their own thing until dinner was ready. He was usually the cook of the family, so he was more than willing to learn new food to add to their huge diet.

Wiping my hands after cleaning the shrimp, I asked the orange clad turtle to dump them in the pot and cover. I opened Splinter's teapot and poured boiling water over the loose tea leaves inside before setting it aside to steep. He was thoroughly enjoying the varieties that had been delivered, so I figured he'd want some with his dinner.

Speaking of, the elder rat entered the room from his chambers and talked quietly with both Leonardo and Raphael. Out of the corner of my eye I saw all three of them glance in my general direction every now and then as they conversed.

Man, for being ninjas they definitely weren't stealthy with their social cues.

It seemed Donatello had meandered to his lab to tinker with what was probably the security system for my new apartment, so he may not be on the up and up. I leaned over and nudged Mikey in the ribs, "Hey, what's going on over there?" I whispered in order to not alert them to my awareness.

"Huh?" He leaned around me to see the three family members talking, "Oh that? That's probably what they are going to talk to you about late-rrrrrrm I mean, NO. Ugh, I have _no_ idea what they could be talking about, I'm totally clueless," he crossed his arms behind his head and tried to look innocent.

Man, they _really_ need to interact with people more. Thank goodness they never have to talk their way out of problems.

"Ooooookay. I guess I'll find out after dinner. They obviously need to talk to me about something."

"Yeah, they said they would talk to you about training with us, and I for one am super excited about it," he replied before pausing a moment. He could see the deceptive smile on my face and his eyes got big, "HEY, NO FAIR! You used your effective womanly wiles to seduce the information out of me!"

The commotion caught the attention of the two turtles and their father as Mikey reached around me and started pointing at my back, "She tricked me! She's using her woman tricks to make me weak!" He leaned on the counter and looked me in the eye as seductively as possible, "And it's _totally_ working…"

Playfully punching him on the shoulder, I gathered the plates and utensils from the cupboard and set them on the table before pouring a cup of tea for my second father. The elder rat accepted the cup gratefully; even with it being decently warm in here the nights were getting colder and its fingers could still creep in to your very bones sometimes.

"So what's this about me training?" I put down a pot holder in the middle of the table so the pot wouldn't burn the old wood. "I'm assuming we're not going to be doing Zumba or Tae Bo, huh?"

Leonardo adjusted the dinnerware on the table as I carried the big pot to the table, "We figured since you would be on your own it would be wise to know how to protect yourself. Even with your new place being pretty secure it's in a seedy neighborhood."

Raphael retuned to the dining area after fetching Donatello. He stood back, arms folded across his chest, frowning slightly as he watched me process what Leo had just said.

I could feel all five sets of eyes on me as I took off the pot holders and handed them to Mikey, asking him to remove the cast iron skillet with cornbread from the oven. I began to fill each of the six bowls with the rice mixture. Mikey returned next to me, taking out the sliced cornbread and putting them on the side of each bowl.

"Okay," I said simply, "I'll do it."

It sounded like everyone exhaled their held breaths at the same time; the sound was deafening. I smiled as I sat down to the bowl in front of me and took in the first delicious spoonful. "What, did you think I was going to fight you guys over it?"

"That's exactly what we thought was gonna happen," Raph piped in as everyone sat down. He poked at his food, not really knowing what to think of it, but smiled after the first bite.

"Well, I don't see why. It makes sense." Woo…I _did_ make this a little spicy. I could already feel the redness form on my cheeks.

"I mean, I've taken basic self defense classes, but I'm sure you guys could teach me better than they ever could." I snorted when swore I heard Mikey utter the words _ninja masters_ in between his bites.

"Anyway, I trust you guys, and if it would make y'all feel better knowing I was better prepared, then I'll do it."

Each turtle looked at one another before looking back at their sensei. The rat mulled over this information as he ate quietly, "Very well, we will begin after you have settled into your new home."

"Well, master Splinter, if it was ok with you I could even start tonight after dinner. At least a beginner's course." I pointed over to my larger bag over by the door, "I actually brought clothes with me to get a workout in after dinner anyway. Figured getting a little sweaty after walking through the sewers would still make me smell better than half the people at the gym."

He nodded and everyone returned to relaxed small talk as the entire pot of food was devoured. I winked at Michelangelo and figured this would be added to the list of dishes he would make for everyone.

The brothers cleared the table and began cleaning dishes as I grabbed my gym bag and retreated to the bathroom to change. I was surprisingly excited about the idea of training with the turtles; in the almost fifteen years I had known them I had never actually seen them train, just merely screw around with one another. Man, has it _really_ been fifteen years? Yeah, I guess so if you count the time I was away.

They were careful to not expose me to that part of their life, always touting that it could put me in danger, people could use me, blah blah blah. Of course, I pointed out _long_ ago that if someone were going to abduct me, wouldn't it be in my best interest to know how to fight? They scoffed at the idea at the time, but I guess a biological threat to the city and possible alien takeover could change one's opinion over time.

So yeah, inside I was bouncing around like a happy twelve year old again.

I went into the dojo and saw everyone was also in there; Master Splinter and Leonardo stood in the middle while the other brothers took their spots along the outer edges. Mikey and Donnie sat on the floor bantering back and forth while Raph leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

The giant rat welcomed me into the dojo and explained that he felt confident that Leo could give me the guidance and training that I would need. Inwardly I thought he himself might train me, but guessing as he was older now I could see why he would let his son do it instead. He placed his hand on my shoulder in encouragement then took his leave from the room.

"Okay, so maybe we can start with some kata before eventually moving onto more practical situations," the eldest brother began as I stretched out my muscles. He explained that katas were essentially fights with invisible attackers, each move being either offensive or defensive. I had to envision each attack and respond accordingly.

I truthfully felt silly learning each kata in front of _every_ one; they must all find this very boring. They had been training for years now, and here I was…a newb. Nevertheless, I followed Leo's instructions to the best of my abilities, and was surprised that after an hour or so I was pretty tired.

A snort from the peanut gallery drug me from my kata and I turned my head towards the noise. Both Mikey and Donnie were looking up at Raph wondering why he was chuckling to himself.

"So, uh, you gonna teach her anything _useful_ anytime soon?" he said sternly towards Leo. I could see the eldest furrow his brows in irritation towards his hot-headed sibling.

"She needs to know the basics first before we try anything advanced Raph, you know how this works."

"Yeah," he retaliated as he pushed off the wall and walked over to where we stood, "She really needs to know that common thugs are going to follow a set pattern that she can follow. That's real smart."

"We all started this way," replied Leo, "she needs to understand the why before moving onto the how and when stage of fighting. Dad put me in charge of her training for a _reason_ …"

"Oh, I'm so _sorry_ Splinter Jr.," the red clad turtle continued, his irritation rising even more. I didn't get why he was so upset about how Leo was training me; it wasn't like I was going to learn everything overnight. He came closer to his brother and got near his face, "It's not like a criminal will just walk up to your face tell you he's going to punch ya!"

On his last word he jabbed a powerful punch towards Leonardo's face. The blue clad turtle evaded the punch easily, blocking it by bringing his fist up and deflecting the incoming arm away from his body. This angered Raphael further as he turned and used his massive shell to ram his brother away from him. I quickly ducked out of the way and ran over to where the other two brothers sat calmly on the floor.

"How can you guys just sit and watch? They're going to hurt each other!"

Donatello smiled and responded simply, "This is pretty common, I'm actually surprised it took him this long to restrain himself." He adjusted his glasses and looked down at his watch to check the time, "Hey Mikey, I think he beat his old record by three and a half minutes."

The orange clad turtle laughed as he whirled his nunchaku between his fingers, "Yeah, don't worry, E. You know Raph's always been a hothead. I think he'd prefer to brawl more than use ninjitsu sometimes. Hey, look Donnie," he pointed back to the fray, "He's got his sais out. Think we broke another time on that one too."

"Yep," the purple turtle confirmed on his wrist again, "by seventeen seconds. He's worked up about something." He reached over and handed me a bottle of water to rehydrate, "Here, you'll have a few minutes to rest. This can sometimes take awhile."

The water felt great as I took a few swigs and grabbed a towel to pat my forehead as I sat down next to them. I watched as the two alpha males continued to fight one another, steel on steel, blow upon blow. This level of precision isn't something you use against normal thugs.

"Just who do you guys _fight_? Superheroes?"

"Chica, there's some baaaaaad mamma jammas out there," the youngest brother piped in. "Maybe that's why Raph was so insistent on getting you better prepared."

"Wait, _Raphael_ is the one who suggested this?" I was floored. Where he of all people came up with this idea I had no clue. Did he really think I was that incapable of protecting myself? I mean geez, what a way to make someone feel like shit. Like "it's ok darling don't you worry your pretty little head off, just sit over there and let the men talk" kind of screwed up. I could feel the anger building inside of me. How could he think I was so useless? Of course I wasn't going to be out saving the world or anything, but I could handle some thugs.

I stood up from my spot next to Mikey and stormed over to the fighting pair in the middle of the room. Raph was still throwing punches until I stood right in front of him, causing him to almost fall over as he stopped a punch from hitting me right in the face.

"What the _fuck_ is wrong with you?" I yelled at him. I poked my fingers into his hard plastron, the slight echo from my nail hitting it could be heard throughout the room.

"Me? What the hell are you talking 'bout?" he shouted back as he angrily pushed my hand away from him and replaced his weapons.

"Ooooo, she big mad," I barely registered the youngest brother whisper to Donnie.

"Yup," was his reply.

"So all of this was because you think I'm useless and have to be protected like the little girl everyone sees me as, is that it? Huh?! I can't take care of myself? I've done pretty well these past years, ya know!" All I saw was red, and not just the anger that flowed through me. His ass just stood there towering over me, his bandana hanging down slightly, and he had the audacity to _smile_ at me.

"Well, prove it then," he said almost silently, the smirk continued on his face.

I didn't even flinch before I threw a punch at his face. He easily blocked it with his open hand, which was at least three times the size of my own. I didn't care, I threw punch after punch at him, each easily being dodged or batted away.

Now he was just toying with me. This asshole was just goading me. Before I could react he whirled around me and wrapped his strong arms around me, pinning my own arms against my body.

"See? Easy enough, and now you're dead," I could hear his voice in my ear. He was still angry, but it sounded more accusatory than anything else. I squirmed and cussed at him.

"Well, what are you gonna do? I'm giving you a lot more time than any attacker would."

 _Fine_. I'd just have to play dirty. I reached down with my face and bit down on his arm as hard as I could. I doubted he expected that because I could hear him yelp and let go of me. Before he could grab me again I dodged out of the way and ran near a table on the outskirts of the dojo that held various weapons.

A new frown crossed his face, "Nice, but still not enough. Even if you hit me with everything sitting on that table it probably wouldn't hurt." He started coming towards me again like he was going to attack. I knew he was just screwing with me because it was nowhere near the quickness he had used against his brother, who, by the way, had moved over to stand near his brothers. Traitor.

Each time Raphael would get close to me with a punch he'd reach out and poke me, saying "dead" everytime he was able to touch me. I jumped and ducked the best I could, but it didn't seem to do much. I jumped over by the table again, dodging him from across the room. He laughed and stood up before looking over at his blue clad brother, "See? I told you, she needs real world training, not this formal shit. She couldn't even touch me."

I. Was. Done. With. His. Bullshit…Seriously.

I reached back and grabbed the first thing I felt before flinging it with all my strength at his face. A solid _thwack_ sound echoed in the dojo before silence blanketed the room.

A low whistle came from over by Mikey as I looked up towards Raphael. A small knife was lodged in the wood mere centimeters from his head. Had he had external ears I'm sure it would have had a new hole.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry!" I apologized profusely as I ran over to him to check for any injuries. Yeah, I was pissed off at his stupid face, but I didn't actually want to _hurt_ him.

The large turtle reached up and dislodged the weapon from the wall; it looks like I had thrown it hard enough to lodge itself almost an inch or two into the wood.

Oh my god, I just screwed up my chances. I've got anger issues. They're never going to trust me with weapons or train me anymore.

Raphael looked at the small kunai knife in between his fingers and looked back down at me before smiling. A small laugh escaped him; he hardly ever laughed from what I could remember, so the throaty sound was foreign to me. Was this a laugh of amusement, anger, or pity?

"Hey Leo, I think we know what she should train with from now on," he called to the other side of the room. He placed the knife in my hand before resting his hand on my shoulder and squeezing gently. I got the feeling he was sorry for pushing me around.

I glanced over to where the remaining boys were stationed and dared to look at my teacher. He had his arms crossed over his chest and a small smile on his face. He nodded slowly.

"So, uh…I guess the real question now is, was she actually _aiming_ for his head?" Michelangelo joked.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The enticing aroma of melted cheese and sauce wafted up through the cracks in the boxes I carried towards my front door from the elevator. Moving day had arrived, and while I told the boys I'd go grab pizza from the place down the block they agreed to unload the small moving truck I rented. I didn't have much, and fortunately no furniture, so I parked the truck in the alleyway to give them easy access to bring the boxes in without being very visible.

Fortunately, this place was already furnished, so I wouldn't have anything too heavy or cumbersome for them to try and bring in. The elevator chimed as I waited for the doors to open, and the first thing I saw was Donatello readjusting his glasses as he reached up towards the top of my door installing bits to his security system. The building was quite small, an oddly shaped building that seemed out of place in the neighborhood, so my apartment took up the entire floor. At least I didn't have to worry about them being seen by any random neighbors.

"Thanks again, Donnie…you'll have to really go through the system with me later and show me how to not set it off constantly," I laughed as he moved out of the way so I could squeeze by him.

"It really is quite simple, I'm sure even Mikey could figure it out," he joked as I heard a 'Hey!' come from inside the living room. Man, that poor kid gets it from everyone.

I was shocked to see the other three brothers already relaxed on my couches and flipping through the channels to the big screen TV installed on the wall; the boxes I had labeled for this room were stacked neatly off to the side.

"Man, you guys are fast. Maybe you should open up a moving business." I walked over and separated out the various pizza boxes on the island by the kitchen before opening my backpack to retrieve the bag of paper plates I had remembered to buy at the convenience store near the pizza place. There were still some things I was going to need, and it seemed plates would be one of them. Being on my own for so long didn't really allow me to build a large collection of dinnerware, never really needing that many for just myself.

"That would be super cool! Ooo, maybe we could be called Turtles-to-Go, or Turtle-Haul, or even Two Turtles and a…erm…two more turtles?" the youngest brother talked to himself as the guys started to come over to retrieve their much anticipated dinner.

I reached down into the bottom of my bag and pulled out the soda and beer I had remembered to also get and set them next to the food. It looked like a grocery run would be in my future shortly.

"Here you guys go, pizza and beer, the quintessential moving feast!" I proudly proclaimed as I grabbed my food and moved over to sit on the floor by the coffee table. Donnie abandoned his tinkering momentarily so he could join us over at the couch and nearby table. I grabbed the remote before Mikey could grab it back and turned it from whatever crappy reality show he was watching to the Saints vs Jets football game that was going on. Man, I wish I had tickets to _that_.

I vaguely heard Raph ask when I started liking sports; it was true…I never really gave them a second glance when I was younger.

"Man, you think Jets fans are crazy, you try living in the south where they live, eat, and _breathe_ football," I replied, taking a bite of my greek salad. Oh em gee I missed these so much. "It just kind of gets ingrained in you after awhile."

"Oh come _on_." Poor Brees got sacked because he was left wide open. Fortunately, there wasn't much time left in the game and they were far enough ahead that unless half the team up and keeled over they were pretty much assured victory. I had watched some of the game from the pizza joint as I waited for them to finish my order, so had rushed home to watch the ending.

We all ate in relative quiet as the final seconds ticked off the clock. I gave a hoot of joy and did a happy dance when it was confirmed they had won before taking my salad box back into the kitchen to throw away later. I caught a couple of smirks and smiles from my reaction so I did the most adult thing I could think of and stuck my tongue out at them.

I saw one of my boxes, the one labeled "movies" had been opened and looked like it had been rummaged through already. "If you guys want, go ahead and pick something out to watch."

"Oh, we already did," Mikey pointed out as he threw away his plate before pulling out a couple bags of popcorn he brought with him. "We were just waiting for brain boy over there to hook up your Playstation to the TV." A grunt erupted from Donnie as I heard a low "it isn't _that_ hard to do guys."

"Here, you take care of the popcorn, and I'll handle the electronics. You stay put Donnie and finish your food."

I picked up the game system and set it up on the shelf near where I would need to hook it up to the TV, "So did you guys figure out what you wanted to watch?" I busied myself as I gathered the cords and began plugging it into the back of the screen.

Apparently _Avengers_ was at the top of the list of choices that evening, and I smiled as I slid the disc into the machine. "So a bunch of pretty much superheroes want to watch a movie about other superheroes?" I grabbed the remotes and turned the lights down somewhat.

"But hey chica, some of them can fly, and like use lightning, and kick butt!" the youngest rambled as he handed me one of the bags of popcorn before flopping on the recliner. I turned to see what my sitting options were and inwardly frowned. It looked like Mikey had claimed one recliner while Donatello pulled the other one up to the coffee table to continue tinkering with his gadgets for the apartment. It looked like Leo was comfy at the kitchen table with his legs propped up on one of the other chairs.

The only space left was next to Raphael who had positioned himself on the couch. It was a typical sized piece of furniture, but these guys were so large he easily took up half the seats.

Ugh…He and I hadn't talked much since our spat in the dojo. After realizing that I, in fact, didn't throw a kunai through his eye socket Leo had determined that I had had enough training for the evening. That had only been a week or so ago, so I only had one other training session since then. At that one the eldest brother decided that it would just be me and Mikey, and he would work with me on my speed in order to dodge and evade any attacks. It was mostly the turtle joking and trying to flirt with me as he "attacked", but nonetheless a good workout as I did a lot of running around the room.

It felt awkward, but I sat down next to him on the couch, offering him some of the popcorn from the bag. He looked down at me hesitantly before reaching over and taking some of the popped pieces. I still felt a little pissed off at his goading and baiting me that night at training, but I hoped he didn't take it too personally. I put the bag of popcorn on the couch between us and sat with my legs curled up underneath me.

I glanced around every so often as we all watched the movie; each person in the room relaxed and seemingly content. The decision to move out of my parents' house was definitely the right one. Back then this never would have happened, no matter how much I wanted it to. Neither my mother or father ever knew about the brothers' existence…it was just too risky. And I highly doubted they would even accept them as people anyway. They would just be labeled as alien or freaks, which they weren't. They were more human than some of the people I'd met so far in my life. As a kid I always had the fear of them finding out and preventing me from seeing them ever again.

While other teenagers hung out at the malls or had sleepovers I instead spent my free time hanging out in the sewers. I inwardly thanked my dad for being constantly busy at the hospital or campaign office and my mom keeping occupied with my sister and her own social circles; had it been any other normal family I think they would have asked way more questions. But being the loner middle child who never really got into any trouble helped them to not pry too much into my life.

I leaned further back into the cushy sofa, but froze slightly when I realized I felt a turtle's arm behind my head. Raph had crossed his legs and put his arm over the back of the sofa during the beginning part of the movie. I could feel him tense slightly under my movement, but neither one of us really wanted to call any attention to it. Oh well, it's not like I was curled up in his lap or anything, though the memory of a younger me and Mikey falling asleep together on the couch after binge watching shows brought a small smile to my face.

Whatever. It was my couch, and I wasn't going to be uncomfortable for another half hour, so he'd just have to deal with it. I twisted my body back and forth slightly getting comfier in the seat and leaned back. The bulkiness of his arm rested on the top of my back and shoulders, the slight coolness of his skin a stark contrast to other humans.

A slight buzzing from my back pocket brought me from the distraction of the movie, and I realized it was my phone ringing. I pulled the device out and frowned at the screen as I realized I didn't recognize the number. I didn't want to interrupt the movie for everyone else, so I quietly excused myself and took the phone into the hallway to answer.

I pressed the answer button and asked quietly, "Hello?"

"Elena?" a male's deep voice asked hesitantly, "Is this Elena Carter?"

"Yes? This is she, may I ask who's calling?" Granted, it's not like I had work tomorrow, but it was pretty late to be calling someone on a Sunday evening.

"I don't know if you even remember me or not, but my name's Bradford Grant. We went to high school together and even had some college courses together down in Louisiana."

A mentally blurry picture of a scrawny dark skinned teenage boy popped to the forefront of my brain. If I remembered right, he was the friend of a friend of a friend kind of guy that I was an acquaintance with from high school. He saw me in some basic courses when I first started college and seemed super excited for the coincidence.

"Oh yeah, you went to the med program down there, if I remember right? How's it going?"

"It's going well, hey look," I could hear the hesitation in his voice, "I know this is kind of weird, but I work down in the same division as your father, and he mentioned recently that you had returned to the states and would probably be looking to get out and get on your feet. He gave me your number and told me to give you a call."

Of course my father would have given my number to available men, especially doctors. Ugh. I'd have to have a talk with him later about this.

"Yeah, um…sure. Yeah, we can probably get up together and talk about old times or something." I truthfully had no interest in doing so, but I could tell the guy was nervous about the call in the first place and felt bad for him.

"Awesome, sorry for calling you so late. I'm on third shift here in the ER and finally got on break. So, um…would you want to get together for coffee sometime? Or maybe dinner? Whatever you're comfortable with."

"Sure, coffee sounds like a good idea," I didn't want to be obligated to a long winded dinnertime with someone who I most likely wouldn't even be interested in. I'm sure my taste in men and what my father's idea on what my taste in men _should_ be varied widely. "Just text me your schedule and we can work out a decent time to meet up?"

"Sounds like a plan," I could hear some voices in the background of his phone ask him questions, "Hey, I have to go, but I'll send that along to you, ok? It'll be good to see each other again."

"Yeah, sure. It'll be fun. See you then." I kind of rolled my eyes, but then felt like an asshole as we ended the call. Maybe he was a decent guy and I'm just being all bitchy about it because it was my father who started the whole thing.

And hell, most likely this guy would end up like all the others and it'll go down poorly. I rubbed the bridge of my nose in irritation as I walked back out into the living room to rejoin the guys and the movie. I retook my place on the couch, not caring if I sat back onto Raph's arm again, and sighed.

"Everything ok?" I could hear his low baritone voice ask quietly so as not to interrupt the others. Looking up, I can see those light green eyes of his glancing down at me in question.

A small smile formed on my mouth. I guess he didn't take it personally after all, "Yeah, just my dad trying to play matchmaker again."

Was that a frown I saw on his face? It was dark in here, so it could just be my imagination. But his eyes went back to the screen again and we fell into comfortable silence until the movie ended.

I couldn't prevent a yawn from escaping my lips as the credits began to roll. It was pretty late and I was totally ready to pass out in my new bed. Someone turned the lights back up and I got up from the couch to stretch.

"Time to clean up. We still have patrol to do before we head back to the lair," Leonardo stated as he began to bring the empty bags of popcorn towards the kitchen. I waved him away and told him I'd take care of everything in the morning. It's not like there were any leftovers anyway.

Donatello promised to come by soon and finish his installation of the security system. The backbone was already placed, but there were just a few remaining additions that needed to be put in.

"What, are you trying to make this place like Fort Knox?" I joked back at him as he put some remaining gadgets on a shelf to await his return.

"Something like that," he smiled in return. He was ready to show me the basics of the system, but I waved him off, claiming that I was in no frame of mind to learn something that complicated this late at night. Seriously…I doubted anything was going to happen in a day or so of me moving here, and I'd be sure to lock all the windows and deadbolts until he could properly show me.

"Time to head out. Raphael, go show Elena our housewarming gift and meet us up on the rooftop," Leo motioned with his hand towards my bedroom before moving over to the window to gain access to the fire escape.

Housewarming gift? They brought something? I looked at all the turtles and I could see smiles on each of Leo's, Mikey's, and Donnie's faces before I looked back at Raph. I've never been good at reading his expressions, but it seemed like he was amused. He motioned with his hand to go towards the larger of the two bedrooms in the apartment and flicked on the switch.

Over by the bare brick wall stood an adult sized wooden cutout of a person. I raised my eyebrow in confusion until he pointed at a small wooden box that had been set on the nearby dresser. I slowly walked over and opened it, gasping when I saw the four small knives it contained.

Raph cleared his throat, "Master Splinter said when you get good you could probably throw like ten or more of those things in just a couple seconds. He's got some more once you get better. That," he pointed over at the target, "is to give you some extra practice. I made it so you could fold it up too in case you needed to stow it somewhere. Figured that brick wall would be a good place to put it in front of. I don't think the landlord would appreciate a bunch of holes in the wall."

This was such a sweet thought; I was thoroughly speechless at the gift. Most people would get a coffee pot or something similar as a housewarming gift. In my world I get human shaped targets for target practice.

Man, my life is awesome.

"Wait," his last comment rang through my ears, "Are you trying to say I'm going to miss a lot?" A genuine smile crossed his face this time, an unfamiliar sight indeed. He could tell I caught onto his little joke.

"Just make sure not to throw it at my head anymore, eh?" he chuckled as he tapped the side of his head where I almost hit him last time. "Now come on and lock the balcony up behind me or I'll never hear the end of it from nerd boy…"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The next couple days had been thoroughly busy, so I was actually happy to be waiting outside a swanky coffee shop near the hospital where Brad worked. Between Donatello coming to finish the security system (which, true to his word, was super simple to use), shopping for all the home essentials, and then unpacking all my boxes I was thoroughly exhausted.

I stretched my sore muscles as I tried to soak in as much warmth from the sun as could be had. Autumn was in full swing, so the temperatures during the daytime could be hit or miss. I had just finished with a shower at my apartment after another training session down in the sewers, and regret now for not taking any Aleve when I had the chance.

Leonardo had me practice on the punching bags today, learning the proper form and how to keep my hand closed so as not to injure myself when attacking. Afterwards I got to practice briefly on my throwing skills. I had apparently a pretty good aim, and Master Splinter even called me a natural at the talent…the first time anyone has ever said something like that to me. Mikey said he was going to start making me do trick shots soon, like having me hit something that he threw like I was some sort of wild west shooter.

"Elena?" a voice dragged me from my thoughts. I turned towards my name and saw a man looking at me inquisitively.

Oh my. Hello McDreamy. Or was he a McSteamy? Nevermind that, just… _hello._

The years had apparently been well for Mr. Bradford Grant. What once was a goofy looking scrawny kid had turned into a well chiseled model for any man to follow; he looked like he belonged on the cover of GQ magazine. His black hair used to be wild in school, but now the curls were trimmed short against his head. The deep caramel of his skin glowed in the sunlight with a hint of stubble on his jawline.

"Elena Carter?" he repeated my name, drawing me out of my daze. I quickly nodded my head and stuck my hand out to shake his, aware that I must have looked like an awe-struck teenager again.

I cleared my throat and greeted him, "Yeah, hi Bradford, sorry was just thinking about some stuff. You must have snuck up on me."

A warm smile crossed his features as he rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "First of all, call me Brad. Only my mom still calls me that. And, if you count my literal run over here from the hospital as 'sneaking up' on you, then we may need to get your hearing checked. Good thing for you, I'm a doctor."

He motioned for me to follow and opened the door for me to enter the coffee shop ahead of him. Oh, look. He's a funny guy _and_ a gentleman.

The warmth from the inside of the coffee shop felt great, and I took my coat off so I wouldn't roast. He took my coat from me and laid both it and his doctor's jacket over the back of a nearby chair, claiming it as ours. I looked up towards the counter and contemplated what to get.

"Here, you sit down and let me know what you want. My treat, since I picked this place."

"Sure, um…just get me a large earl grey and that should do me," I told him as I sat down in the chair he held for me.

"A tea huh? Would have picked you for a black coffee kind of girl," he said cheerfully as he walked up to take his place in line.

"Only when I want to stay up all night!" I joked back at him. Man, he was definitely easy on the eyes and so far was pretty nice. Maybe dad put more thought into this one instead of just trying to throw every single guy in my general direction. Sadly, this had happened on more than one occasion since so many people knew him across the country. It also didn't help that he liked to give my number out to people he thought would be more, how should I say, _appropriate_ for me.

Usually these were the same kinds of people I desperately tried _not_ to be like growing up. Rich and usually too far up their own asses that they didn't realize the world didn't revolve around them. Granted, my dad had done a ton of stuff to help the country in so many ways, but he still kept himself and the family to a higher standard than your average person. I inwardly hoped Brad wasn't also like that.

Moments passed before he returned and placed the large cup down in front of me. I thanked him and quickly grabbed the cup, relishing the warmth it provided my cold and sore fingers.

"So, um…how have things been for you since college? Your father said you just recently moved back to New York from Japan?" He sat down and took a tentative sip of his drink, testing its heat. "That must have been exciting."

"Yeah, well, after my masters I decided to travel for a year or so in order to fully immerse myself into other cultures. What better way to do that than to just leave everything behind and start over in a new country?" The warm liquid felt glorious as I sipped the tea made with steeped milk. "Japan was kind of the ending though…I actually started over in England and worked my way east. Albania, Turkey, and Nepal were definitely eye openers as well."

"Wow, I've always wanted to do something like that," he said quietly. "To be able to be free, just get up and go wherever and whenever you want. It must have been quite liberating."

I nodded in agreement, "Yeah, it was a great experience. To see just how different people can be throughout the world. It really put things into perspective for me. But enough of that. How have things been for you?"

Brad leaned back in his chair, relaxing a bit, "Well, I think the last time we saw each other was right out of high school and fresh into college?" He nodded in response to his own question. "Yeah, that first year was definitely interesting. I barely survived, what with _so_ many classes and of course those parties."

I laughed slightly. Yeah, I remember the parties at the frat houses. I had only ever been to a couple of them, but they were after I had already been in college for a couple of years; it took me that long to come out of my shell and be more open. Though in hind sight, it was because of those parties that some of my darker years had also began, so I tried not to dwell on them that much.

"After a few semesters I had to have a come-to-Jesus speech with myself about why I was really in college," he continued. "Mom just wanted me to have a successful career and try to be productive. Dad wasn't around growing up, so she wanted me to have a decent life, ya know?"

He took another couple sips before continuing, "So, yeah, after that I went balls to the wall with studying and survived through med school. That was rough. But after that I was able to transfer up back up here and am now working in the ER for my residency."

"Man, I forgot just how much school y'all have to go through in order to be doctors," I said after a thought. "Do you like working in the ER?"

He kind of shrugged his shoulders, "Eh, it gets the bills paid. I can say it's always exciting, especially in a big city like this, but the hours suck at my level right now."

"Yeah, I can see why."

"I'm happy though," he kept going, "I found out from mom today that my Uncle Barney is doing some genetics research and has a spot open for me in his lab for whenever I'm off to come and help him with his projects." He saw my eyes lift up in question, "Yeah, apparently he's been looking into what causes genetic mutations and how he could possibly fix or maybe even reverse the effects they have on the body. Think about how many people that could help if we had a breakthrough."

Hmmm. I'll have to run that by Donnie later and see if he'd heard anything about this yet. Surely some sort of medical journal would have posted theories by now.

"So," Brad said kind of quietly, realizing my mind went somewhere else for a second, "What exactly brings you back to New York? Your dad said you were taking some time off to figure out what to do with your career next? Any ideas so far?"

Oh, we're back on me being the subject. "Yeah, I figured I'd come back here and start looking around, getting some feelers out there, maybe even network and see what I can come up with. Really any large city would do fine for this as well, but figured my parents had gone long enough without seeing me."

By this point I was almost done with my tea, "With my background in cultures and government I could possibly be a liaison between the United States and a few different countries. I have enough grasp of the Japanese language to get by, so maybe I could focus on that. With all the military contracts and government offices I'm sure there would be something I'd enjoy. That's like the one good thing about my dad being who he is. He knows a ton of people so maybe I can get some doors opened. If nothing else I could always try D.C. and test my luck."

I guess the idea of me moving away to another city crossed his mind because his smile faded. "But don't worry, I'm probably not going anywhere for awhile. I just have to dip my toe in and see what kind of fish are biting."

Brad nodded at my statement and checked his watch, "Speaking of biting, I probably have to get back and see if there are any cases of that, or stabbings, shootings, etc." He stood up and handed me my coat before disposing of both our empty cups. He then ushered me to the door and opened it once again, letting me go through first.

The cold air hit me, almost making me want to turn right around and go back in the coffee shop. But at least my stomach was full of hot liquid, so that should tide me over until I could get home. I watched as he put his doctor's jacket back on and turned to look at me.

"Elena, I had fun talking over coffee. Would you like to do this again sometime? Or maybe even dinner?" his eyes were wide with hesitation. It was like looking at a puppy dog.

How in the world was this man still single? He probably had patients throwing themselves at him every day…maybe even _literally_.

"Sure," I smiled in return, "that sounds like fun. Just let me know when you're not busy with work or your uncle's research and we can set something up." He smiled and nodded in return before checking traffic and jogging across the street back to the large hospital two blocks down. I had to catch myself from staring at him.

Instead of taking the subway I decided to hail a taxi and take it home; depending on the day and time of day it was faster.

The sun was just beginning to set as the taxi arrived at my apartment; I realized over those first few days that it was a tall enough building to hover over many of the others in the surrounding district, so I could get a great look at the setting sun from my balcony. That was quickly becoming my _woosah_ time at the end of the day when I could just relax and let the day's problems wash away for a few hours.

I exited the elevator and punched in the correct code to my door, one of the 'features' of Donnie's new alarm system. With everything he installed I was just waiting for my apartment to greet me saying _good morning Elena_ like Hal from _2001: A Space Odyssey_. The brothers and their father all had access to get in here whenever needed, should a situation ever arise, but for the most part it didn't seem that intrusive. Locks and sensors on all the doors and windows, but thank goodness there weren't cameras everywhere. That'd be awkward.

This place had really shaped up into a home now. I had finally unpacked all my boxes and put all the books, videos, and things I had picked up from my travels in their own respective place. I had finally stocked my entire kitchen, and didn't even bother taking my coat off before making myself a cup of hot chocolate. I was about to be back out in the cold in a few minutes anyway.

It didn't take long before the microwave had finished its duty, the quick and bastardized way of making hot chocolate. It would do in a pinch. Speaking of pinches, I needed to enhance my drink still…a little of this and that and I was good to go.

I walked into my room and exited out onto the balcony. Damn, the sun was just barely underneath the edges of the nearby buildings. If I climbed up to the rooftop I'd probably be able to get a few minutes of woosah. Good thing there's an access ladder on the end of my balcony; maybe I should have put this cocoa in a travel mug.

Oh well, no time to waste, we'll see how this works. I manage to awkwardly climb the few feet up to the edge of the balcony and over onto the rooftop without spilling a drop of my cocoa.

All that training has helped. Proof that I'm a ninja master right there, yo.

Finally, that view I'd been trying to see of the skyline was right there in front of me. All of the red, oranges, and pinks were glaringly bright and bouncing off of the clouds that dotted the sky, creating a magnificent speckled effect. I instantly felt myself start to relax, though taking sips of my spiked chocolate was definitely helping to keep me warm.

So today went well, I think. I mean, Brad seemed like a decent enough kind of guy. He was definitely easy on the eyes, but looks does not a man make. And I can hardly say one conversation over coffee was a soul searching endeavor where I saw all of his ups and downs. But on a scale of get-me-the-hell-outta-here and please-have-my-babies he was definitely somewhere solidly in the middle.

I just didn't see the whole deal with my dad trying to fix me up with anyone right this second. I mean, I know my older brother is settled down with his wife and two kids, but he's got like six or seven years on me as well. I've got time to make those kind of decisions, _if_ I ever decide to make them.

I hate the traditional woman-stays-at-home mantra; hell, that's part of the reason I left the country. My mom was especially upset when I said I was going to travel with just some clothes in a backpack around the world ("Elena, _proper_ girls just don't _do_ that on their own"…I still don't know what she was getting at by the word proper. Was this Victorian England?). Maybe I was just as rebellious as Anya, but didn't have the balls to just tell my parents to eff off.

And besides, I'd had my fair share of _bad_ relationships in the past that I doubted I could ever find someone I could truly trust. It was _because_ of those parties that I had attended that, at my most vulnerable, my heart got stomped on. I wasn't just going to let someone have easy access to inflict that kind of pain on me again.

Ugh, thinking this kind of shit was making my head hurt. Here I was trying to woosah and I went and screwed it all up. I guess the question is, am I tired of being alone? Should I even try to give this guy a chance or gently let him down now.

Well, at least I'm not alone right _now._ I have my trusty old pal Jose Cuervo to keep me company at the moment.

The sound of someone's throat clearing from below me drug me from my thoughts, and I glanced down to see a familiar red bandana.

"Hey," the turtle simply waved.

Well, scratch that. I've got Jose Cuervo _and_ Raphael to keep me company at the moment.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I had to admit, Elena was finally starting to learn and pick up on what we were teaching her; she had even put her cockiness aside with me and didn't give an attitude back when I pointed something out that she could improve. Leonardo had set her up with the punching bags today, and I smirked to myself as I watched her try to punch them; they barely moved and she shook her hand in pain because she didn't hold her hand like she should have. Maybe I should take back that part where she listens.

I mean she was probably like a buck thirty soaking wet to begin with, so I didn't really have a whole lot of expectation that she'd be able to do much with the bags anyway. I hit it hard enough that I'm constantly having to patch the damn thing up. We figured out her main strength was her speed, which is why Leo has been having her work with Mikey a good bit since he's the fastest of all of us.

A little dense, but fast, I at least gotta give him that.

I had nothing else to do at the moment, so I sat on the sidelines watching as she practiced for a bit, then moved onto the kunai. Dad came in and praised her for her aim, saying she was a natural. Maybe it's just because he was gettin' up there in age, but I remember him being a _lot_ harder on us when we were younger. If I aimed my sais like she did her knives there was never that kind of praise; it was always more of a _good, now…again_ kind of thing.

But it had only been like a week since she started training with us, so there was still plenty of time for her to get better. Maybe then we could all relax. She really just needed to see first-hand what I've been trying to tell her from the get-go. Learning kata and how to use weapons is all friggin' fine and dandy, but thugs weren't going to do things in a set pattern.

I saw her finish up her training and thank Leo for his time. A thought crossed my mind as I watched her pack up her gym bag and prepare to go back up to the surface; she said she had some sort of get together thing to go to and had to get home to grab a shower. I'd have to make a call first, but I think I had a good plan for her next training session. I waved bye and walked out to find my cellphone.

"Hey dude, earth to Raph, helloooooooooo," Mikey snapped his fingers in front of me trying to get my attention a half hour later. I had taken a spot in front of the television, randomly flipping through the channels without really paying attention to any of them.

"What do ya want?" I snarled at him and snatched his fingers out of my face. Dammit I was thinking and hated when he bugged me like that.

"Hey guess what? OK, so I took Elena up to her apartment, which by the way I still have to say it's awesome because she's so close, but anyways. I took her up to the manhole by her apartment and found out that the _get together_ she is going to is actually her meeting for coffee over at the hospital on tenth street," my youngest brother took a deep breath after saying all of that in one go.

"Wait, what Mikey? Slow the hell down and just spit out what you're trying to say."

"Dude, she's going on a _DATE._ Like, meeting up with a guy and ogling over each other kind of thing," a look of sadness crossed his face as he feigned fake chest pain, "My heart hurts so much right now."

Ok, so Elena's going on a date with a guy. I don't know why it bothered me, but it did. It's probably because I've always seen her as a little sis so any guy is automatically going to be questioned in my book.

"Ugh, ok…so what?" I snapped back at him. He's really starting to irritate me with all this swooning over a chick who would never look at him in a million years. He's a _turtle_ for god's sake.

"So what? So _what_?" Mikey seemed taken aback. "We should go check him _out_ of course. See what kind of competition we're dealing with."

"Competition? Mikey, what wall did you run your head into?"

"C'mon," the orange clad turtle playfully bobbed and weaved, punching my arm once for emphasis, "you know you're curious as to what this guy is like."

I sighed loudly, showing him I was getting pissed off. "Fine, whatever. Just as long as it gets you to shut up." He jumped and cheered before running off to grab his clothes. I hated wearing those damn things. We weren't teenagers anymore where most things fit us. Pants weren't too hard to find, but covering my shell was tricky. I had to get a trench coat the size of a baby whale to cover the damned thing.

So there we were, an hour, standing in the alley across from where this damn coffee shop would be. Coffee is simple. You didn't need a whole damn shop for it. Just have someone out there, pouring it straight from the pot, and move along. Now there was a fancy schmancy _café_ as people like to call them nowadays where there's more cream and sugar in your damned drink than there is coffee. I just don't get it.

Mikey shushed me all of a sudden, when I wasn't even talking, and made a bunch of hand gestures to show Elena was standing outside the coffee shop talking to some guy.

"Mikey, I'm right behind you. It would have been faster to just say 'hey look Raph'. And not even in that many words dumbass."

"Woah," my brother exhaled loudly, "Dude, he's like McDreamy and McSteamy had a love child."

"Huh? McWho? What the hell are you talking about?" I was starting to get annoyed with his antics. I felt his hand reach up to grab my face and drag it down to where he was before pointing at the guy, "Raph, _look_."

I finally got a good look at the guy. Ok, so yeah I _guess_ he would be considered good looking among human standards. I don't really know or _care_ about that sort of thing. I'm especially not going around looking at the guys of all things.

This guy opened the door for Elena and had her sit at a table by the front window while he went off to get a drink.

"Man, Raph…Looks, money, _and_ manners? Triple threat. He's prime real estate…You got a problem on your hands dude," Mikey said quietly, looking up to me.

I looked down at him, back to the shop, and then back to him. "Wait, what? What problem do I have?"

"You don't have to hide it anymore dude, you totally have a thing for her. I mean, yeah she's smokin hot, so of course most people would, but _you really liiiiiiiiike her_ ," he ended in a sing songy kind of voice.

I snarled and punched him hard on the shoulder, "you're outta ya friggin mind." But no matter how much I told myself I didn't care, I couldn't take my eyes off of their table.

"It's ok to admit it, I'm sure Leo and Donnie can see it too—OW!" he yelled again as I smacked the back of his head.

"Mikey, listen to yourself. She's like a sister; she grew up with all of us. Do you realize how crazy you sound right now?"

"Ugh yeah dude, do you realize how many years I crushed on her? We had even talked before she went up and off to college but I still fell hard," he poked me hard in the arm. He started off the next part with extra emphasis, " _Buuuuuutttttt_ she sees us for us and doesn't care what we look like. How many other people can you say that about?"

I could think of a couple of humans we knew that didn't care what we looked like; April and Casey were at the top of that list.

As if he could read my mind, the little twerp dared to waggle his finger at me before clicking his tongue, "Oh, no sir. April and Casey don't count because they're still with each other. Weird tends to stay with weird. Keep thinking."

He continued after silence filled the alley for a few seconds, "Besides, you're just the boy on the playground picking on the girl because he likes her."

My anger started to bubble towards the surface as my irritating brother kept insisting. I couldn't totally blow my lid because I'm sure it would be loud enough to get my everyone's attention from across the street. And I really didn't feel like explaining why two mutant turtles were spying on their friend.

"Look, Mikey," I gritted my teeth in frustration as I tried to calm down, "even _if_ I were interested, and that's a big if. But _if_ I were interested it wouldn't make any difference. We're turtles, she's a human. There's no way she'd even look at something like us twice when she can have McDreamy, or McSteamy, or whatever the hell you called that guy over there. You ever thought about that? It just wouldn't work."

I could see the gears in his head spinning furiously; if they moved any faster I think he may actually start to have smoke coming out of his ears. After a moment he kind of shrugged and looked at me, "Hey, we've seen weirder things before, haven't we? It's not too far-fetched an idea."

I faceplanted into my palm. Christ on a cracker this kid just didn't get it. I glanced over at the two in the coffee shop and could see Elena was having a good time. She was smiling and laughing here and there, and I could definitely see the guy was interested in her. Why did that piss me off so much? I should be happy she could find someone that makes her happy.

So long as that guy treated her right and didn't hurt her I won't have to beat his face in. Though for some reason even the thought of beating that kid's face in didn't make me feel any better about the situation.

"Ok, so here's what we need to do," my brother had found a random straw and was starting to draw in the dust and dirt that accumulated on the ground in the alleyway. "We go up the street there to the alley across from the hospital, and when Prince Charming comes strolling by to go back to work I let out a squeal like a girl. He'll come to the rescue since he seems like that kind of 'knight in shining armor' guy, and then you'll pop out from behind the dumpster and hit him in the head. Now you need to do it just enough to cause amnesia, because there's always that amnesia episode everyone expects…"

"Mikey, we really need to put a limit on the amount of daytime television you watch man…"

"Oh hey, look!" his fingers came from out of nowhere and pointed past my face towards the shop, "Looks like they're done. It's now or never dude, I can seriously put my plan into action."

He showed how good he could squeal like a girl because I grabbed his fingers from in front of my face and bent them backward.

Coming up here was a mistake, I could feel it the moment Mikey had mentioned this stupid plan. I turned my back and began to walk away from him, back towards the sewer, "Dude, just go _home_." I didn't even wait for him to answer or follow me before I jumped down into the depths below.

I just started to randomly walk through the sewers. I didn't want to go home myself, mainly because I didn't want to have to listen to Mikey yammering on about this boy toy of Elena's. A frown crossed my face. I should be _happy_ for her, not pissed off. I don't even know _why_ I was pissed off, she's well within her right to hang out with or even date who she wants. Just because she came back to New York doesn't mean she has to hang out with us solely.

I mean, when we were all younger she hung out with us _all the time_ whenever she wasn't in school. She told us she didn't have any other friends she cared for in school anyway, so she'd come down almost every day to wherever we were living at the time and hang out. Sometimes Donnie would sit and do homework with her; that nerd was always wanting to read her books and learn stuff. Or she would play board games or video games with Mikey. Then there were those days where her and Leo just sat and talked the whole time. I was just always there being an asshole. It's the one thing I do best.

I never understood her reasons for wanting to be with us instead of other humans. It's not like she couldn't have pretty much whatever it was she wanted. Her parents could definitely afford to provide for anything she'd want to do. So why hang out with us freaks? Was it just a game to her? Feel sorry for the turtles but know you were so much better off than they were?

No, if that were the case she would have blasted our secret to everyone she knew; made a sideshow out of us or something.

Ugh…why do broads gotta be so weird and complicated?

I stopped walking and looked around before realizing I was right below the alley outside of Elena's apartment. Why the hell did I walk here? So apparently walking to get away from my problems brought me right back to what caused it.

Well, if nothing else, since I'm here I can tell her what training we'd be doing next.

The sun was starting to set, so at least there's enough shadow in the alleyway to not make it that noticeable that a huge turtle is jumping up the fire escape to the top of the building. I at least still had my disguise on.

I stopped though when I heard irritated cursing above me. That sounded like Elena; what's going on? My hand instantly fell to rest on my sai as I peek my head up to see her balcony.

Somehow she thought it would be a good idea to try and climb the ladder that reached up to the roof while balancing a large cup of something that steamed in the cool air. She would wrap her arm around one side of the ladder and use her forearm to help stabilize herself against the ladder as she took each step slowly. She was so going to fall. I'll just hang out here for a second if she fell off and over the balcony wall.

Surprisingly she made it up and over the edge of the roof before looking quite pleased with herself. I'd have to remind her in a minute just how stupid it was.

No, I can't do that. I said I'd try to be nicer to her from now on…but still it was a really stupid idea. So many things could have gone wrong.

I looked up and realized she was looking over the tops of all the other nearby buildings, and I feel a clenching in my chest. The slight wind from being so high up made her wavy black hair move gently around her curvy waist. She brought the mug up to her full lips and took a long sip; I could see the steam from the hot liquid rise up past her pink tinged cheeks. Ugh…get a grip on yourself, Raph. Yeah, she's hot and way out of your league.

The movement of the sun's shadow on the building got my attention. Ah, so that's where she got the hair-brained idea to climb her ass up there; she just wanted to see the sunset. She seemed to be lost in her thoughts, but I wasn't going to sit there all night while she had an internal therapy session. We got some training to do.

I didn't make much noise as I swung myself over the balcony railing to stand below the edge of the building. Seriously? She didn't hear me. She's totally oblivious. I could have killed her like three thousand different ways by now.

I cleared my throat, which _finally_ got her to look down.

"Hey," I muttered as I waved up at her.

Well, at least she knows she's not alone now.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I know this is set in the 2014 movieverse and all, but I swear they made Casey way too nice in this one. Nothing against Stephen Amell, he's super yummy (don't tell my husband...whatever he already knows LOL) so I decided to go with the attitude of Elias Koteas (80s film version). He will always be how I envision the character of Casey Jones.

So with that little tidbit...enjoy.

Chapter 8

"So, wait. You're trying to tell me my next training session is going to be out in the city? At _night_?" Raphael and myself were back inside the apartment, and I was sipping yet another 'enhanced' hot chocolate to fight the chill from when I was standing on top of the building. I had seen him standing below me on the balcony in a ridiculous looking trench coat, which he quickly shirked off with a sneer once I poked fun at him for it. I guess it made sense. If they did have to move around in daylight he'd need a way to cover his massive shell, but it still didn't cover the fact that it looked funny.

"Yeah, like I told you," the large turtle stated as he sat on a stool across the kitchen island from me, "Leo and I talked and decided that showing you just what could be lurking where might open your eyes up and help keep you alert." He looked the cup I set down and grabbed it, bringing it to his nose and sniffing hesitantly. "What exactly is _in_ this? I thought I smelled something funky."

I pointed over the tequila bottle on the counter and pulled out a small bottle of spice from the cabinet by my leg, "A little bit of Jose and cayenne makes for a damn good cup of hot chocolate. Try some, I bet you'll never go back."

I watched as Raphael held the cup like it was a bomb set to go off before tentatively bringing the mug up to his lips. A small sip, a moment of contemplation, and I could totally see the look of enjoyment cross his eyes. "Hah, see? I told you."

He passed the cup back to me and coughed as I knew the alcohol was probably burning his throat, "Just don't drink anymore of those before we leave."

"Yes, sir!" I mock saluted him before giggling a bit. The warmth from the mug had done its job, so I shrugged my coat off and tossed it over the back of another stool. "So, all the crap you just told me is just that…crap. Leo doesn't know anything about this does he?"

The look in his eyes all but confirmed my suspicions, "You make a pretty pathetic liar, you know that Raph? You can't use all that muscle and angry hulk-ness to get your way all the time, so we need to work on your people skills." He really seemed taken aback at that point. Maybe it was the alcohol talking, who knows. I didn't really care right now.

"So your plan is to take poor, defenseless me out in the wild blue yonder and see what happens? Sounds like a bang up job," I laughed slightly, draining the last of my cocoa and placing the mug in the sink. "It sounds like a recipe for disaster."

"No, it wouldn't be like _that_ ," I could hear the irritation in his voice. Apparently he was offended that I'd think it was that simple. "Casey would be joining us, and you wouldn't even be in the middle of anything. I just want you to watch and see fights work. You could just stay by the bikes safe and out of the way."

"Wait, wait, wait. Casey _Jones_? You're still out bashing heads with him? I thought he ran off and settled down with April?"

"Yeah, they did, but he and I still sometimes go out and run patrols together," Raph said matter-of-factly. "Sometimes it's better to run with people you don't regularly train with to keep everything sharp."

"More like he had a rough day busting criminals and wants to take it out on someone that can't identify him is more like it…"

I crossed my arms on the island and leaned forward towards the red-clad turtle and looked in his eyes. I could tell he was totally serious about this; this wasn't some sort of weird joke. As weird a plan this was, he really thought it would help. "You know Leo is going to bitch you out when he finds out. And you _know_ he'll find out somehow. He always does." Sometimes I wondered if his older brother's mutation gave him some sort of super powered mind reading abilities. It was probably something that dealt with his intuition, but my story sounded way cooler.

A frown crossed the turtle's face; I knew he hated when Leo acted the 'big brother' role, "You let me deal with Leo. He'll see that his way isn't always the best."

My eyes stayed on Raph for a few seconds longer before I finally replied, "Ok, fine. I'll go. I just need to get changed first." I saw his eyes raise to mine in an almost surprised look. "What, you thought I would chicken out? Who knows, maybe the liquor makes me not care as much, or I like to live on the wild side. Either way, let's get going before my rational side decides to _make_ me chicken out."

I left to go change my shirt in the other room; I still had my jeans on from seeing Brad earlier, so that would be fine. But I doubted my flowy shirt I had on would keep me very warm out in the night air. I opted for a simple long sleeved shirt paired with a dark hoodie to do the trick. I could vaguely hear Raphael on the phone with Casey, I assumed to arrange a meeting place.

A small shiny object caught my attention, and I looked over to see the open box with my kunai knives inside. Well, I know Raph said that I would be safe, but one could never be too prepared. I lifted the bottom of the hoodie and wrapped the belt they snapped into around my waist and covered them with the thick outerwear. I thought they would feel uncomfortable, but they sat snugly against the lower part of my back once I adjusted the strap.

Coming back out to the living room I saw Raph stow his phone in the back pocket of his shorts and look up to me. "You ready?"

I could feel some nerves start to form in my gut, but pushed them as deep as I could. I was inwardly excited about spending time with the usually angry red turtle. He and I never really hung out when I was younger, so finally seeing this new side to him made me nervous but eager.

"I guess it's either now or never."

A smirk crossed his face as we both exited the doors that opened to my balcony. He said it would be faster to meet up with Casey if we took his bike, but that would mean we needed to stop by the garage that connected to their lair. I was confused when he said we needed to go to the roof vice the manhole below, but I wasn't really in the position to ask questions. I was afraid he would change his mind since this was such a terrible idea, but that small nagging part of me wanted to see some excitement. He followed up the ladder behind me to the roof of my building before looking around and hunching over slightly.

I looked like a fool gawking at him, "What…do you want me to climb on your _back_? Really?"

He rolled his eyes and grumbled, "Well, unless _you_ want to jump from building to building this is the fastest way…even the sewers would take longer to get there." The dark sky would give us some cover, so no one would see us at least.

I made sure he heard my sigh before letting him help me on his back. He had taken off his trench coat and handed it to me to hang onto, so I held it between my torso and his shell before wrapping my arms around the top of shell and neck, burying my face as close to him as possible. I don't think I wanted to see what was about to happen.

Sure enough within a split second he leapt to the building next to us; I'm sure my stomach escaped and was still sitting back on my building. I felt the air rush past us as he ran from rooftop to rooftop, surprisingly not feeling much jarring even though I thought due to his size it'd feel like I was in a 4x4 in the backwoods of Louisiana again. I felt secure against his back as his arms had reached back and held my thighs to his shell. I don't even think I'd fall off if I let go with my hands, but I wasn't going to find out.

As soon as we started it seemed it was already over as he bounded down from a rooftop to a set of fire escapes down to an alleyway, not even needing his hands to catch himself as he expertly landed on each rung as we descended. He gently set me down and I wobbled slightly, grabbing onto his arm for support, as I found my land legs again.

That was fun. If there's a next time I _may_ even open my eyes. I doubt it, but I could even surprise myself.

It seemed the alley we landed in bordered what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse in the middle of a shipping district. I knew better though…I remember Donnie mentioned they had a garage where they had some sort of souped up truck or something hidden away.

Raphael looked around before ushering me to the keypad next to a large garage door. The door began to open, and we ducked underneath it quickly, stopping it about halfway. He walked over to his motorcycle and pointed at a nearby table that had a couple extra helmets. I nodded and grabbed one, pulling it snugly down on head and watched him do the same. He put his trench coat back on and swung his massive frame over the bike's and held it still so I could hop on behind him.

I hesitated for a split second before deciding _what the hell_ and hopped up on the back of the bike. The modified bike roared to life and we exited the garage, the door lowering down securely behind us.

"You sure you know how to drive this thing?" I said as loudly as I could over the bike's muffler. Between the intensity of the sound and the feel of it underneath me those nervous butterflies invaded my stomach once more.

I could see the smirk form again on his mouth that was visible from under his helmet, "Why don't you hold on tight and see for yourself?"

Before I could even come back with a sarcastic statement he throttled the bike and it shot forward; had I not latched myself firmly to either side of his coat-covered shell I would have surely fallen off the back of the damn thing.

Oh, we were _so_ going to have a talk about this later tonight.

What was instantly formed anger at his stunt soon turned to elation as the wind whipped past our speeding forms. Raph zipped us in and out of cars on the freeway, sometimes cutting it a little closer than I normally would have found comfortable even being in a car, but deep down it was exciting. I may or may not have cheered at one point; I don't really remember in the haze of the exhilaration. I do remember the few times he turned his head back towards me with a smile on his face. It seemed he was happy I was having such a good time.

Much too soon our ride ended as we met up with Casey near a park. I had never met the cop and friend of the turtles prior to this evening. After the Kraang invasion I had heard of the tricks that had been played on him regarding Master Splinter and laughed for days. It seemed when he wasn't on the beat as a cop he would pal around with the brothers on patrol. I was slightly taken aback by how frightening he could look with his hockey mask and assortment of weapons in the golf club bag on his back. How many baseball bats could one person really need?

Raph put his legs down to steady the bike for me to hop off from behind him; I quickly took the helmet off and shook my hair out as the adrenaline still coursed through my veins. He saw the smile that was plastered stupidly to my face and patted my shoulder, "You did good for your first time. I'm surprised you didn't fall off the back at first."

"Yeah, well _that_ would have worked out so well for this training session you have set up now, wouldn't it?" I retorted, playfully punching him in the arm.

"Hey dome head, who's the hottie ya got with ya?" Mr. Mucho Suave himself sauntered up to us, his hand on his hip, "Did I heard ya right? Ya popped her motorcycle cherry? Lucky man…"

Oh wow…yeah he was a real charmer. I glanced and saw the surprised look cross the turtle's face; apparently he wasn't expecting that kind of reaction out of Casey either.

He cleared his throat before speaking, "Um, Casey…You remember Elena Carter, right? Small girl, hung out and grew up with my bros and I…around the same age as us?"

Casey looked confused as he looked back and forth between the turtle and I. The only images he had seen of me were probably pictures Mikey had of the two of us as young teens. "Elena? She's little Elena? Yay high?" He made a motion with his hand to show the height of what could be a small kid. What the hell, I was taller than like three feet.

He stood back for just a second staring at me up and down until I felt almost uncomfortable, finally releasing a slow whistle. "Wow, puberty works wonders doesn't it."

I don't know who sighed louder between Raph and myself; I know I was close to seeing the back of my head with how hard I rolled my eyes. I seriously hoped he wasn't going to be like this all night. He held his hands up in mock surrender as a weak apology, "Hey, dames like it when ya tell them they're pretty." He lightly pretended to punch the red clad turtle on the shoulder, "Figured I was just helping ya out there, eh?"

Raphael quickly changed the subject and began discussing with Casey what our course of action was. Apparently it sounded like the vigilante was up for anything to do with 'bashing skulls in' and followed the turtle's lead. We'd ride around on the cycles until one or both of them spotted something and then stop to investigate. When they did this together they commonly came across members of the Purple Dragon gang, and easily dispatched of them. Since the city had been a lot quieter recently in the past few months neither one really knew if we'd even find anything.

Raph had me put my helmet back on and jump on the back behind him again (I had graciously declined a request to ride behind Casey when he offered), but turned to face me before starting the motorcycle up.

"Hey, now look," his face took on a serious tone, "if we end up stopping because we see something I want you to _stay put_ next to the bikes. Got it? I don't want you to be in the middle of any fighting we do. I just want you to watch and learn." He saw me nod and shook his head, "No, tell me you understand."

"Okay, I understand. Don't get in the middle of it," I responded quietly. He looked at me for a few more seconds before exhaling and starting the motorcycle up.

Instead of doing any high speed rides this time both Casey and Raph kept their bikes close together and combed different neighborhoods in the area. A few times we stopped when they saw simple law breakers and stopped them in their tracks. Mainly it was just teenage kids who ran off before they were even confronted by either of the guys. There were a few fist fights, but nothing serious. I did as I was told and stayed put right next to wherever they parked the motorcycles, watching them confront petty criminals here and there.

It was getting late at night, and I realized I hadn't really eaten anything since my training session earlier in the day, and even then it was just a quick power bar after I got my shower and headed up to the café. Raphael and Casey discussed with one another as we sat at a red light that they both were ready to call it quits as well. The light turned green and we took off slowly, planning on branching off and going back to the warehouse which was just a few minutes away.

"Hey, I thought I saw something in one of those alleys back there," I yelled up to Raph as I poked him in the side. It had seemed odd since he said this district was supposed to consist of mainly abandoned warehouses, which is why they had their garage here. But I could have sworn I saw a few vans parked up to a back exit next to a building.

He nodded his head to signal he understood and made some hand motions towards Casey's bike for us to turn around. Apparently they were going to loop around and take smaller access roads so they could get a better look as to what was going on.

The guys pulled up to an intersection with an access road and an alleyway before cutting off the bikes; there wasn't currently anyone outside with the vans, so they didn't notice the two bikes shut off a couple of buildings down. We both hopped off the bike and took our helmets off, waiting for Casey to do the same.

"Nice work there, chick," Casey muttered as he pulled on his hockey mask, "those vans are the same ones typically used by purple dragons. Though I wonder what they're doing all the way out here."

"I dunno," Raph stated simply, laying his coat over the bike, "but whatever it is it's about to stop, most likely with force." A small smirk adorned his face as he stretched and checked his weapons.

I watched the two banter back and forth as they crept against the nearby buildings over to where the vans stood. Sure enough within a few moments the side door to the building opened, and a few gang members walked towards the van's open back compartment, their arms laden with boxes of what looked like medical equipment.

Soon though their cover was blown by the yells of the men by the vans as Casey and Raph attacked. I had never really watched any of the turtles fight with their chosen weapon, and I was mesmerized at how graceful his huge body was with his use of ninjitsu. I couldn't keep my eyes off his twirling and jumping form as thug after thug attempted to fight him but fell. Even as more men poured out of the building he easily fought against them, using the wall, van, anything surrounding him as tools to an end.

I could tell he enjoyed the fighting as well, he just seemed like that kind of alpha male. It must be a decent form of energy release. I know I always felt really good after a workout, the adrenaline coursing through my veins always made everything crisper. Sight, sound, even smells seem slightly sharper right after exhausting oneself.

Minutes passed, though they felt like mere moments, until it seemed the two had disposed of all the thugs; none were coming out of the building anymore. Casey was moving towards the door of the building to see exactly what the gang was up to. Raphael followed him to the door, but looked in my direction and waved to let me know everything was ok. I waved back at him, and saw another smile after his exertion.

Almost instantly though his smile dropped and a look of shock crossed his face as he pushed against the door to bolt towards me. Fear ran like cold icicles through my veins and suddenly my body took over.

I instinctively ducked as a pipe passed inches above my head, the person attached to it almost as large as Raph himself. I could hear the turtle cursing and yelling my name as shouts from Casey and what seemed like more gang members filled the background.

All of my senses tuned into the huge behemoth in front of me. God was he big. He swung the pipe towards my head again, and I ducked to the side and pushed the bikes over to block him from me a bit. Of course the only exit I had available to run was being blocked by the thug in front of me. It was either him or go wade through the dozen or so guys that were now currently fighting my friends.

Either way I had a feeling I was screwed. The guy easily stepped over the fallen bikes (of course he did…he was like the size of a damn tree) and ran at me. I ducked to the side, causing him to need to turn to attack me again. Reaching behind me I felt the four tiny knives strapped to my back; it seemed like just one of these guy's fingers would be bigger than any of them, but they were all I had at the moment. I released two of them lightning fast and true to my prior training, they buried themselves straight into his biceps.

Well, damn. If you think about it all my targets were of _normal_ sized people, not walking mountains, so of course my aim may be off. The two blades didn't even seem to affect him at all, as he easily pulled them out and threw them on the ground. I reached back again and held my remaining two knives; I really didn't want to throw them and be completely vulnerable.

I threw just one, hoping I could hit something more vital, but it seemed the hulking brute was onto how I fought. He quickly turned and took another hit in the arm on purpose before ripping out the knife and throwing it back at me.

I cried out as pain seared through my arm, realizing he lodged it straight into my left shoulder. Jeez that hurt like a sonofabitch. He came at me in my moment of shock, and before I could dodge another attack his huge hand slammed into my face and threw me against the nearest brick building.

The force of the impact knocked the breath out of me, and I clutched my chest with my good hand, attempting to fill my lungs with much needed air. I glanced through the tears out of the corner of my eye that was starting to swell and saw Raph and Casey had just a few more guys to deal with. The look of pure rage adorned the turtle's face as he viciously attacked the remaining few guys that blocked him from me.

I spit a mouthful of blood and reached up to pull the dagger from my shoulder. I don't know where my other one I was holding went to, it probably got knocked loose when that bastard punched me into the wall. Where was he anyway?

Before I could even comprehend that I hadn't been paying attention, a large hand grabbed me by the throat and held me up against the same building. I clawed feebly while trying to stab him with my knife; he grabbed my weapon with his other hand and tossed it to the side like it was a pencil. I grabbed his hand with both of mine and tried to gain some leverage to kick him in the chest. Nothing was working, and his grip was getting tighter.

I couldn't breathe, couldn't scream for help. My lungs felt like they were on fire with their denial to oxygen. I opened my eyes for one last look at my surroundings, because I was surely about to die. Black dots started flickering in from the edges.

I saw Raphael running as fast as he could, as fast as his legs could carry him towards me; Casey was close behind him, though I couldn't make out anything else as the blackness final overtook my sight and I fell limp.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The sound of soft breathing dragged me back to the world of consciousness. I lifted my head and opened my eyes quickly, but instantly regretted the decision and shut them, rubbing my three fingers against them in irritation. I tentatively tried again, blinking until the room came into focus.

Then it all came back to me. What had happened.

 _Casey and I had just finished fighting off the pathetic excuses for purple dragons as they were trying to load up some boxes that looked like they contained important medical mumbo jumbo into the back of their vans. Hell yes, we'd be able to screw some of their plans; that was always a win in my book. Camel breath went over to the door into whatever building they were coming out of to see what all was inside. I had turned around to Elena to let her know we were fine and would be back in a second while we scoped the joint out._

 _Though all I saw was the pipe held above her head by that huge jerk with the dragon tattoo. I yelled out for her, and pushed against the door in an attempt to run towards her, but I heard Casey curse behind me as a dozen more guys ran out the door behind us._

 _Shit, shit, shit. I fought instinctively, allthewhile yelling over to Elena and trying to get to her. Dammit dammit *dammit*._

 _Thankfully she ducked out of the way in time to not get her head caved in by that first swing. She dodged a couple more times and sent a couple of her kunai, which I didn't even know she brought with her, towards him, but it wasn't going to do much against someone that size._

 _I snarled in rage and snapped the nearest guy's neck when I saw him he had thrown one of her knives back and lodged it in her shoulder. That bastard dared then to hit her hard enough to throw her into a wall._

 _My body moved on its own, attacking and defending, all in an attempt to get over there to help. I wasn't fast enough, though, because her body slumped over as he held her neck. My vision turned red, and I jumped on that fucker's back, stabbing him repeatedly in the back of his neck. He wanted to fuck with someone, he needed to pick on someone his own size. He tried reaching back and grabbing me, but I was like a friggin' tick, I didn't climb off his back until he stopped moving and bled dry._

 _My chest heaved in and out as my body fought to breathe after the attack._

 _Oh, shit…Breathing…Elena._

 _I ran and kneeled over to her still form, picking her up to lay her face up._

 _"_ _C'mon kid…wake up. Elena, you gotta wake up," I said quietly. I could see her chest rising up and down barely, so I leaned forward to make sure I could hear breathing. It was raspy, and barely there, but she was at least getting air._

 _I shook her gently, trying to rouse her, but stopped as blood from her shoulder wound ran over my fingers._

 _I vaguely heard Casey run up behind me and gasp at the sight; the he-man flunky stabbed to death, Elena looking like she went through a ten round matchup between her and a semi, and me covered in both their blood._

 _"_ _Dude, what the fuck…" was all I registered him saying._

 _I hiked her still form up and cradled her against my plastron, "I have to get her home, Donnie's closer than any hospital right now…"_

 _He just nodded slowly and told me to go. Not like I was going to wait for his permission anyway. I ran down the alley towards the main street, not even caring to keep to the rooftops. Thankfully we weren't too terribly far from the garage, no more than a few blocks. But those few blocks took the longest time ever to pass._

 _I leaned back to slightly tilt her so I could reach up and punch the numbers for access to the warehouse. Jesus, she was still bleeding pretty bad. The numbers now had blood on them, and I'm sure we probably left a trail from where the attack happened. The garage door couldn't open fast enough for me to finally run inside and make my way down the hallways that ran further and further underground until *finally* I reached the lair._

 _I kicked open the door, and was greeted by my purple wearing brother. He must have seen us on the security camera as I ran up._

 _"_ _Please, Donnie, you gotta fix her…"_

I looked around the room and my eyes finally settled on the tiny female's form in the makeshift hospital bed. This same bed has held me and my brothers through the years and our various injuries, but she looked especially small on the large slab right now.

She wasn't supposed to be here. We weren't even expecting anything major to happen this evening. Just some simple thugs, that's all. We weren't anticipating any sort of major gang activity to happen.

A small, raspy breath got my attention, and I grabbed her hand in mine, desperately wanting her to open her eyes. C'mon kid, you can't bug out on me like this. We had a great time tonight all the way up until that shitty last part.

I don't know what was worse…watching it all happen in front of me and not being able to help her, or what had happened after I got her back to the lair.

 _Donnie and I raced into the med bay of the lair and he had me place her on the table. He quickly brought over some instruments and machines that I had no idea what the hell they did. But he was the one that could fix her. He needed to fix her. He just had to._

 _"_ _Raph, what the hell happened out there?" I just stood there silent, unable to take my eyes off of her still form. "Raph…RAPHAEL." He took on a stern tone with me and drug me from my haze._

 _"_ _I, uh…I took her out with me and Casey to do a simple patrol, and we ran into a decent purple dragon activity down further in the warehouse district."_

 _"_ _You did WHAT?" I heard Leo's stern voice come in from behind me. It looked like he and Mikey had come in during my explanation; Mikey stood in the doorway speechless for once._

 _"_ _I fucked up Leo I know this! I thought it would help her, and here she is-"_

 _"_ _Look you two," interrupted Donnie as he looked up from examining her, "If you're going to fight, take it outside. Right now I need quiet. Mikey, you come over here and hold this against her shoulder for me…"_

 _I snarled in frustration and pushed past Leo to get the hell out of the room. When it came to this shit I knew I was just going to be in the way. I'm always in the way, and not good for anything other than busting heads. And apparently I can even fuck that up. I couldn't get past some simple goons to help my friend from getting her face punched in. I should be the one on that table if anything, not her._

 _Frustration and anger run through me and I took it out on the first thing I saw. I flung a nearby chair into the wall and flipped the kitchen table. The other chairs got scattered in the process, so I grabbed each one and slammed them into the floor._

 _"_ _Raph, Raph, RAPHAEL," I heard Leo's voice again as he appeared in front of me taking blow after blow that I directed towards him. I sank to my knees and shuddered, adrenaline and worry running rampant through my system. My hands were open, palms up, on the floor, and all I could see is the blood that covered them and my arms._ Her _blood._

 _"_ _I don't need your lecture right now, Leo," my voice shook. I'd never been this upset and pissed off at one time. I think my body didn't even understand what to do, which explained why I was just sitting here on the floor in the middle of destroyed furniture._

 _I heard him shift in front of me, and looked up to see him kneeling down with me. I thought he'd be pissed off and ready to chew my head off, but his look read more worried than angry._

 _"_ _I'm not going to lecture you right now, but we *will* have to discuss this at some point," he said gently. I think he was just trying to calm me down and make sure I didn't break anything else. "Right now we need to help Elena and then go from there. So tell me what happened, so I can let Donnie know."_

 _I explained everything. Everything from when I got my hair brained idea, to how I went to her apartment to ask her, how she agreed, and then exactly what that now dead fucker did to her. I didn't cop an attitude with him, I didn't yell, I think I was on autopilot. I didn't even realize dad had come out and listened to the entire tale I told my brother._

 _Leo listened…he's always been good at that, before squeezing my shoulder and going into the med bay to relay it to D. Dad sat there on one of the chairs I didn't get my hands on, staying silent but watching me._

 _"_ _Go ahead Dad, tell me how much of a screw up I am. I give ya full permission to light into me," I looked up and saw his aged eyes watching me. It's kind of unnerving when he looks at you like that. Like he can see something in your head you didn't know existed._

 _He held his walking stick in front of him and leaned forward to have it help him up, "You are weary right now, my son. Rest first, and we will discuss your actions at a later time. In the meantime, I believe your brother may want to speak with you," he motioned with his face towards the med bay, where Donnie was coming out._

So Donnie said it looked like she should pull through fine. Her stab wound didn't cut any tendons or anything in her shoulder thankfully, and there wasn't anything broken on her face. She was lucky her trachea hadn't collapsed from the pressure he-man used when he was choking her, but that was probably because she was fighting tooth and nail to be let go. She had a couple of stitches in the back of her head from a gash where she hit the building, and of course the row of stiches sewing up her shoulder.

Looking at her she looked like she just went ten rounds with a professional cage fighter. The one side of her face was now completely black and blue, and you could clearly see a large handprint that covered her entire throat.

I still held her hand in mine, afraid to let go. I had fallen in and out of sleep for a few hours; I really didn't know exactly how long she'd been out so far. Casey had come down to the lair to bring both bikes back as well as Elena's kunai. He sat with me for a bit as we both watched her breathe shallow. Eventually he had to leave to head home, though I only vaguely remember him leaving.

Donnie would come in periodically to check her out. We weren't a hospital, so didn't have access to a ton of medical supplies down here, but he was a wiz kid and made due with what we had.

Mikey surprisingly stayed out of the room after he was done helping Donnie, which I was happy for. I don't know what I would do if I had to hear him blabbering the whole time.

Leo now stood on the edge of the room, watching me sit with her. I could feel his gaze on my back, but ignored him the best I could. I didn't want to fight with him right now; didn't want to break anymore furniture in anger. I just wanted to be here for when she woke up.

"Raph, we need to talk about what happened." Ugh…of course he would want to talk _now_ about this.

"There's nothing to talk about Leo. I said I fucked up, and because of that she got hurt," I sighed loudly. "Donnie said she'd be fine, but it could have ended a lot differently."

Silence permeated the space before a simply quiet statement was uttered. "Yes, she could be dead right now."

My chest hurt at the thought. She had just come back into our lives, and for her to leave now, especially like that, might be the undoing of more than one of us.

"So I guess I'll leave her training up to you from now on," I said after a few moments. "That's even if she wants to train anymore, or if she even wants anything to do with us from now on." More like with _me_ I thought sadly.

I could hear my older brother shift a bit before he came over and pulled up a chair next to me and her bed. "Actually, I think you should be even _more_ involved from now on." I looked over at him, thinking he had lost his own damn mind, when I saw him lean forward on her bed with his elbows, his face resting on his closed hands.

"You see what the importance of her being trained now is."

"Yeah, but we were just trying to prepare her for thugs and all, not purple dragons," I answered him.

"True, but Casey talked to me and said when he went back all evidence of the attack was gone," Leo said after a pause. "The vans, bodies, everything. Even all the blood was cleaned up. Which means someone was able to escape and alert others in the gang."

The realization hit me all at once, and I rubbed my hand over my face in irritation. Someone escaped. Someone saw her with me and Casey. He had been on the purple dragon's radar for years, but he always wore a mask. Elena didn't. They saw her face, and knew she was involved with not only the vigilante, but also one of the turtles.

"Jesus fucking Christ," I exhaled sharply. I could see him nod next to me.

"Yes, she _has_ to train now. The purple dragons know about her, know what she looks like, and could come after her. And enemies of the purple dragons are also enemies of the foot clan," my older brother stated simply, standing up and exiting through the door.

I really fucked up this time. We had tried to protect Elena from all of this. For almost fifteen years we were able to keep her out of this part of our lives, and now I just ruined that for her. Now she was going to _have_ to train, because every opportunity they had to use her to get to us they would.

All because I was trying to prove a point to Leo that I thought I knew better.

A small noise, then a painful sputter dragged me from my thoughts as Elena's tiny voice invaded the silence of the room, and I felt a tiny flutter in the fingers I held.

"Raph…ael…"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

 _C'mon kid…wake up. Elena, you gotta wake up_

That voice…I know it from somewhere. But it's so dark I can't see who's calling my name. Normally I would be bothered by not being able to see anything, but it's oddly calming. Almost like I'm supposed to be here.

I vaguely register that voice again, calling my name. It's persistant. I try to move my limbs, but I'm not feeling that I even have any arms and legs. Do I even have a body anymore? Am I dead? I hear other voices, but I can't tell where in the dark the echoes are coming from.

Silence surrounded me once more, and I couldn't tell how much time had passed since I'd heard them. Even though I couldn't feel any of my limbs I could feel the presence of someone near me.

Who was next to me? Where was I and why could I still not see or feel anything? At first I didn't mind, actually welcoming the calmness that filled this void I was in, but now I wanted to know. I wanted to know what was going on. I wanted to know who was next to me…what had happened.

As if on cue I saw a faint light in the far away distance begin to move closer to me. Didn't everything always point to you _not_ going towards the light? I tried to look down and see what all was going on, but even with the emerging light coming toward me it didn't look like I even had a corporeal body. So what, I was a ghost?

I began hearing voices again, two male voices conversing this time. I couldn't make out their specific words, but I could hear the guilt in the one's words.

It was the same voice I remembered earlier telling me to wake up. But who was it? Why was I asleep?

Flickering images showed in the emerging light before me and I began to remember what had happened directly before this lapse of consciousness.

Big guy…beating my ass…trying to fight him, but couldn't breathe. Raphael's face as he ran towards me.

Raphael…Raphael? He was who I heard…He was the one telling me to wake up.

I needed to wake up. Suddenly I was surrounded by white light, and I could clearly hear the red turtle's voice in my head. He sounded…sad? I don't think I'd ever heard that in his voice before.

Raphael…I have to get back; I have to help him. He could still need me. But how?

"Raph…ael…"

My voice sounded foreign to even myself. Colors appeared out of nowhere to flash and flare past me, and it felt like I was trying to kick desperately to the surface after being underwater too long.

Flickers of feeling began coming back to my limbs, and I tried moving. I heard Raph say my name, then a small squeeze of my hand. His voice rang out as he called for one of his brothers.

"Elena, hey there kiddo…Come on back to us…"

My lungs hurt, my head hurt, I couldn't make it to the surface fast enough; I don't know how much further I had to go, but if I didn't make it soon it would consume me.

As if on cue I breached the surface, relief at finally being free from the heaviness of unconsciousness. But then instant regret as every single inch of my body hurt. I sucked in a large breath and fought to sit up in bed, my body still in acting in response to being attacked. The lights were too bright for me to see anything, and one of my eyes was so swollen I couldn't even open it. I struggled to bring my hand up in an attempt at shield my eyes, and fought back against strong hands that held onto my wrists.

My mind was fucking with me, or I'm still being attacked, that's the only explanation. I screamed as loud as I could as I tried to claw my way out of my attacker's grasp, but his grip was tight. I felt myself falling, falling, falling down before being caught by someone who held me tight against them.

I realized now that I heard my name being called over and over again, telling me that I was safe. Then it registered _who_ was calling my name. Raph. I fought to control my breathing; my lungs felt like they were about to explode.

I slowly opened my one good eye and blinked multiple times to process the light in the room. I couldn't move my arms because I was currently being held close to Raphael's plastron; both of us were sitting on the floor next to what looked like a makeshift hospital bed.

"Raph?" I can hear myself ask him, my throat sore and raspy and painful to use. He saw I was done thrashing and let my wrists go, though we still sat on the floor for a second. Donatello burst in at the noises and his eyes went wide at the situation before him.

"She started thrashin' and was gonna fall, so I had to catch her," the red turtle explained to his brother, before gently lifting me up and setting me back down on the bed. Every movement brought forth daggers to my body, and I could see him feel bad for having to move me. "You doin' ok there? You scared the hell outta all of us…"

Donnie got right in my face, and I cringed as I saw a light shine in my eyes…well, eye. He snapped his fingers, for what reason I had no clue, but all I could think about was I wasn't some sort of damn dog.

"Her response is good, pupils are contracting properly. It looks like she shouldn't have any lasting brain injuries. Possibly just a mild concussion," he rattled on as if he had a med student taking notes behind him. I'd have laughed if it didn't feel like my body was trying to break itself in half.

"Here," he handed me a small cup of water and a couple pills, "that should help with the pain. You're going to be sore for a few days, but you don't have any breaks or fractures, so it's mainly just superficial damage. I'll take those stitches out in a week after I check to see how well they've healed." The purple turtle placed his hand on my shoulder and smiled as I hesitantly swallowed the pills with a sip of water. Damn my throat was on fire.

"I'll have Mikey bring you something to eat. You lost a decent amount of blood, but thankfully nothing severe enough to need a transfusion. Which is good. Because we can't do that here," he motioned over at the jug of water on the table, "Keep drinking the water and eat what you can, since you might feel light headed until your blood replenishes itself."

He said he'd check on me in a little bit and made his way out of the room, leaving a comfortable silence behind. Raphael had taken his place against the wall closest to the door, arms crossed over his chest and had been watching the evaluation. I could feel his eyes watching over me, but I couldn't quite place the expression that settled upon his face.

The last few moments before I passed out earlier played in my head again causing a frown to cross my features. He must be mad at me for what I did.

"I'm sorry," my raspy voice uttered quietly. Apparently whatever emotion he was feeling wasn't anger because a look of surprise crossed his face.

"For what? You got nothin' to be sorry about…"

"For pushing your bike over. I hope I didn't do any damage to yours or Casey's-"

He snorted, which caused me to stop talking. "That's the last of our worries right now, don't worry about it, ok? Bikes can be fixed, ya know?" I nodded timidly; his tone had turned slightly angry, and I didn't know what was the root cause of his irritation.

"So, uh…How you feelin anyway?" His question came after a few moments of silence.

"I have a feeling I know what being run over by a semi-truck feels like at least," I smiled, knowing that any laughter would hurt like a bitch. I began to feel warm tingles in my fingertips, so I'm sure some relief was soon on the way. "That guy was big as one at least. What happened to him after…," I paused for a moment, not really knowing the proper way to describe what happened to me. "Um…after I went down?"

He didn't flinch at the question, and answered very resolutely, "Don't worry 'bout it. I took care of him." The amount of anger that was laced in that single statement caused chills to run through my veins. I'm sure I didn't want to know.

I saw the emotions move through his face, and it slowly dawned on me what could be bugging him.

"You know this isn't your fault, right?" I said peacefully.

A breath gets caught in his throat at the sudden statement. Yep, that's what I was trying to decipher. He felt guilty for what happened to me. I watched as the inner workings of his brain fought with one another, before finally coming to a consensus.

"That's where you're wrong," he stated plainly; no anger, but sadness across his features. "It was my hair-brained idea that took you with us tonight. Had you not been there you wouldn't have gotten injured. This was too close of a call, E."

He couldn't look me in the eye as he spoke; he was that ashamed. "There wasn't any way you could have predicted that, Raph. And who knows, maybe if I wasn't there it would be one of _you_ laying here right now."

"It'd be better than having you there," he said plainly, before turning to walk away from my room.

"Wait. Raph, _wait a minute_ ," I had to talk sternly because at first it seemed he was going to ignore me and leave the room. I raised a hand to hold my head since I felt woozy from the medications, but dammit I wasn't going to let him beat himself up over this. I saw the large turtle stop his exit and look over at me.

"Sit your ass down in that chair, before I have to get up and _put_ you there myself." He raised an eye ridge at my slight growl, but did as ordered. I rubbed the bridge of my nose to help the room stop spinning, and instantly regretted that as my face reminded me of being punched by the semi-truck of a man.

"Look, I made my own decisions, and I could have backed out at any time. Nobody _forced_ me to ride along, and truth be told I had a helluva fun night excluding the latter parts." My arms and legs were now completely rubbery and I didn't know just how much longer I had before I gave in to some rest.

"I just want you to know that I'm a big girl now, and I order you to not blame yourself for this, do you hear me?" My head lolled to the side and I could still see him watching me with those light green eyes. I could tell he would still probably blame himself for this, but I at least had to try and alleviate _some_ of the guilt.

"Hey wait…Donnie said I had stitches?" I made a poor attempt at looking down towards my shoulder where I was stabbed. "Hey, would ya lookit that. Chicks did scars, you know? Of course you know, you're a guy. But wait…I'm a chick, and I _don't_ dig chicks. Damn…I'm screwed." I smiled a little as I heard a small chuckle come out of what I thought was his mouth, but my eye saw his nostrils talk.

Damn, Donnie had some potent shit.

"Here, just do me a favor," I slurred my words to him. "Grab my hand because I can't feel or move it anymore, and you stay here until I fall asleep, ok? And you better not leave. If I wake up and your stupid face isn't here Imma be _real_ pissed…"

His eyes softened as he scooted closer to the bed, gently wrapping my hand in his. The edges to my vision were getting real fuzzy and I knew I was ready to close my eye for rest.

The sounds around me started mixing together, but I could have sworn I heard a deep voice whisper, _never again…_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Damn, Donnie, you using lobster claws to cut those things off or what?" I cringed as the purple brother tried using the small scissors to snip the stiches from my shoulder. It probably didn't help that they were itchy as hell and all I wanted to do was take a pad of sandpaper to them. He had already snipped the couple of stitches in the back of my head and all I could think about was how glorious it was going to be to get a proper shower soon.

"You see the size of these fingers?" he joked, "If you would hold still it would make this easier."

I huffed in exasperation. I had been forced to stay in bed almost all week by _everyone_ and I was ready to move around more.

"Here, lemme try and do it," I snatched the scissors from the surprised turtle's grasp before grabbing a nearby mirror and tilting my head down to get a good look.

"Damn, son," I whistled a bit as I saw the handiwork, "I can tell you don't cross stitch in your spare time." I heard a snort of disproval from his direction as I concentrated and carefully snipped each and every one of the stitches that ran up the front part of my shoulder.

"Well, we tend to have a bit thicker skin that humans, and again," he wiggled his fingers for emphasis, "You see these?"

A giggle escaped my mouth as I dabbed at the wound with some gauze and tried desperately not to scratch at it. "True enough, Donnie…True enough. But hey, think of it being a new hobby you could try."

Almost a week had passed since the incident with the purple dragons, and I was healing pretty well. All of the swelling in my face had left, and the bruising was on its way to disappearing. It had just started changing from the angry blues and purples to the sickly greens and yellow. I had probably another good week until it cleared up totally.

I hopped off the table and semi paid attention to his instructions about how to take care of my shoulder and head. I would cover the shoulder wound a bit when I wanted to get a shower, but immediately uncover it afterwards so it wouldn't stay damp. But the small laceration to the back of my head shouldn't prevent me from getting a shower. So long as I wasn't going to soak myself forever it should be fine.

 _YES. A shower._ That's all I wanted right now. One of the guys had gone to my house to grab basic toiletries and some clothes for me to get by the days I had already been here. I waved bye to my pseudo doctor and almost skipped happily to the bathroom.

 _Oh. My. God._ I never truly appreciated the healing aspect that a hot shower could provide to the core of one's very soul. My muscles were still incredibly sore, but with each drop of hot water that hit them it seemed to penetrate deep down and massage each muscle fiber. I made sure to lift and bend my shoulder under the hot water, though not letting it stay underneath too terribly long for fear of the bandage getting super soaked and then hearing the wrath of Dr. Don.

I didn't want to get out, but knew I needed to. Sighing inwardly, I regretfully turned off the shower and stepped out into the steamy bathroom. I tossed my hair up in a towel before quickly taking the bandage off my shoulder and patting around the area, ensuring it was sufficiently dry. I wrapped myself in another towel and ran my palm across the steamed up mirror, getting a good look at myself.

I looked like hell. I mean, yeah, I was just punched by a semi truck into a brick building and choked so I knew I wasn't going to win Miss America anytime soon. But I guess I could see why I had been avoided for a couple days now.

All four brothers visited me often the first few days; even Master Splinter came and spent a decent amount of time with me. He saw me as a daughter just as he saw the turtles as his sons, so I could understand his worry.

Leo and Donnie would bring books and activities to keep my mind occupied so I wouldn't be bored out of my mind. Mikey was constantly in and out of my room, waiting on me hand and foot for any food or drink I could want, though truth be told I wasn't overly fond of _anything_ having to go down my throat that first day or two. I drew the line at him trying to wheel in the big screen TV so we could play video games together, but settled on him snatching one of Donnie's laptops and us watching cat videos on YouTube. Heh, those never got old.

Raph came and went those first couple of days. I did have trouble sleeping, my dreams always going back to the alleyway in the warehouse district, so there were times he came and just sat with me; the comfortable silence able to lull me to sleep.

But these last three days I hadn't seen hide nor hair of him. I asked Leo what was going on, and with a frown on his face he said there had been a few _disagreements_ on a course of action to figure out what exactly was going on with the medical equipment we saw the purple dragons transporting. He wanted to take some time to gather as much intel as possible before just barging in anywhere half-cocked.

Apparently Raphael had a difference of opinion. Shocker. The last time I had seen him I could tell he still felt a huge amount of guilt for the events that led up to my injuries, but no matter how many times I told him it wasn't his fault he just seemed to withdraw into himself more. So I quit mentioning it.

I realized I was frowning in the mirror. I don't know why it bugged me that he was so upset and guilt ridden over this. It's not like we were besties before any of this started. Hell, I was surprised he didn't light into me and start blaming me for not paying attention, or that I did this wrong, or that wrong. I was wholeheartedly expecting that conversation to pop up between us.

If nothing else, what happened the other night proved to me just how out of my league all of this stuff was. I cringed at the thought of me proclaiming I was totally safe because I carried pepper spray. Jeez was I stupid.

The problem with this is what happened that night ignited a burning in my stomach, a want to learn more on how to protect myself and others. A _need_. But the brothers had said in the beginning that I was only going to learn some simple self-defense techniques, nothing major. I felt like I wanted to learn everything I could, but I had a feeling they would veto it…especially after all this.

Damn. Who could have thought that getting my ass handed to me would push me to want to wade further in the sea of martial arts? Most people would be like _well fuck this_ and walk away. But I couldn't do that. I'd have to figure out a plan of attack to bring this up to Leo. If anyone would have to be convinced, it'd be him. Especially since I kind of knowingly went along with a rather reckless plan that ended poorly.

I got myself dressed in a simple tank top and boxer shorts that I would usually sleep in but kept my hair up in the towel so it could soak up some more of the water. The guys insisted I stay down here another night or two, and had even gotten a bed to set up in one of the spare rooms so I wouldn't have to lay on the harder gurney longer than I had to.

Mikey's voice rang through the lair, stating that dinner had been served. Or brought in. Someone had ordered sushi for dinner, and I for one was starving. Grabbing all of my toiletries I exited the bathroom to head to stow away my clothes and stuff.

"Woah, look at that," Mikey said as he made some sort of wolf whistle to me when I exited my room. I smiled and walked over to the array of take out boxes that littered the kitchen counter. I found my order and quickly yanked it away from him as he pretended to go for my food with his chopsticks.

"Touch this and you die, turtle," I growled playfully at him, batting him away and taking a seat at the table. "My stomach feels like it's ready to start shredding itself into pieces."

I could see everyone else begin to filter into the kitchen, the announcement of food arriving dragging them from their various activities. Shocker again, no Raphael. I frowned even as I popped a delicious morsel into my mouth; just where had he gone?

As if on cue, though, the large red turtle appeared in the doorway to the lair's entrance and silently began the walk over to his bedroom. His face showed signs of fatigue and weariness to the point that I wonder if he had even slept over the past few days. He had obviously been in some sort of fight, but most likely whoever he had gotten into it with was faring much worse than him.

"Hey, there he is!" Mikey said cheerfully as he plopped down in a chair next to me, opening his own box of sushi, "Dude, didn't know if you were going to show up, but I got your favorite right over there."

Raph stopped his ascent up the stairs and looked over in our direction, his eyes locked onto mine instantly. I guess he must've not expected me to be up and walking around because he looked somewhat surprised to see me sitting there. His mouth set in a straight line as he replied simply before continuing up the stairs, "Not hungry."

I looked around to see everyone else glance back and forth between one another before going back to their food. "You know, you guys need to work on your communication skills…seriously."

"There are some times where you just let him do his thing," Leo said pensively after a moment. Taking a bite he waved up towards Raph's room with his chopsticks, "There's no getting through to him when he's like that. We just give him a few days and he'll come around."

"Elena," Splinter said quietly. It was weird hearing my name; he only started using it after I got injured, "Raphael has many internal demons he is dealing with, guilt being among the largest."

An irritated sigh escaped my lips. This seriously needed to stop. The four in front of me looked confused as I closed my box of food before gathering his box and a pair of chopsticks from the counter and marched up towards his room.

His door was closed, but I didn't care and walked in anyway. He was sitting on his bed but leaning against the wall; his legs were bent with both his hands and head resting down on his knees. At the noise of the door opening he quickly lifted his head up with a look of irritation on his face. He started an expletive towards what I guess he thought was one of his brothers, but stopped midway when he saw it was just me in the doorway.

"What do you want?" he growled out as he sat up straighter, "Aren't ya supposed to knock or something?"

"Yeah, if I wanted to be ignored, but I don't, so here," I shoved the box of food in his face. "Eat. Now."

His eyes narrowed, and had I been younger I would have run away in fear, but I didn't care anymore. "I'm not hungry, now get out of my room."

"I'm sorry, did that sound like a request?" I said super sarcastically back at him before walking over and sat the box on the bed next to him. "I _said_ eat." I walked over and plopped my happy butt in the only other chair in his room, opening my own box and beginning to eat again. I wasn't going to let his attitude keep me from enjoying my own damn food.

I couldn't tell if it was more irritation or surprise that ran through him, but after a few moments he opened his box and adjusted his lap so he could eat his sushi slowly. We ate in complete silence for a few minutes; I didn't want to give him a reason to get pissy and stop eating to argue.

Both of us finished our food after a bit, and I sat back contentedly in the armchair, relishing the feeling of a full belly. I closed the box and pushed it over onto the top of the desk next to me.

"So, why are you looking like hell?" The sound of my voice cut through the silence like a hot knife through butter.

I was surprised when I heard a slight grunt come from him, "What's so funny?"

A small smile crossed his face, "Well, you're one to tell me I look like shit. You look in the mirror lately?"

Speaking of mirrors, I remembered I still had the towel on my head. I took the towel off and began rubbing it against the still damp strands, "Actually yeah. Mikey's called me an honorary turtle sister because I match his shade of green now." I laughed at the memory.

His smiled faded at the joke. "I'm sorry about that again, by the wa-"

"Ah ah ah, I don't want to hear any of that anymore," I waggled my finger at him like a grade school teacher admonishing one of her students. "I've been over this with you how many times? Quit feeling sorry for yourself. Now, answer my question…what have you been doing? Because you look exhausted."

He frowned, and I could tell he was debating on how much to tell me. I cleared my throat after he paused a few seconds, indicating that I wasn't going to wait around. He finally rolled his eyes and sighed, "Fine. Casey and I have been going out looking for other purple dragon activity to see if we could get any leads on what they're doing."

"Well, from how you look it seems you two have been doing a lot more than just _looking_ ," I replied to his confession. "You ever thought to bring in your brothers in on this idea? More people to watch your back?"

"Leo just wants to sit around while they're out there doing who knows what," the red turtle spat out in anger.

"I don't think Leo 'just wants to sit around' and do nothing Raph," I said gently, in order to calm him down. "It makes sense to get as much info as you can before barging in guns blazing." A thought crossed my mind and I frowned at the realization of the situation.

"This isn't just because of the medical equipment, is it…" I stated flatly. He didn't even have to say anything for me to know I was right.

"Hey, look at me." I called over to him. He was stubborn and kept his eyes solidly down into his lap. _OK fine, I can be just as friggin stubborn._ I stood up and went to sit down on the bed next to him, leaning back against the wall as well with my hands clasped together in my lap. I saw him at least glance over at me slightly before drawing his eyes to the floor once again.

"Don't just give me a fuckin side eye, Raph. _Look at me._ "

His eyes came up to mine, and I could tell he was uncomfortable looking at my face. Yup, I was right. I made sure to keep silent for a moment, letting him look at every bruise and mark on my face and neck. I could make out of the corner of my eye that his hands had clenched his knees.

"I don't blame you, so you shouldn't blame yourself," my voice came out in barely a whisper.

Silence once again surrounded us, and I truthfully didn't know what he was going to do or say.

"I was a cocky asshole and trying to one-up Leo, and that almost got you killed," his knuckles would be turning white if they could. "I don't know what I would have done had that happened."

I sucked in a surprised breath and felt my cheeks flush; I had always assumed he was just this huge tough guy, but he had such tenderness in his admission just then. I'd never heard him talk like this before. A memory popped in my head, and I barely caught myself from laughing.

"Hey, move your arm," I said hesitantly. This worked when I was younger, so who knows how this turtle would take it. Raphael raised an eye ridge in question, but did as he was asked. I scooted a tiny bit closer to him and put his arm over and around the back of my head, nestling myself next to him. I could tell he was confused and wanted to pull away at first, but he stayed put. Minutes passed as we sat in comfortable silence, and I could feel him begin to relax with our position.

"Mind telling me what you're doing?" he questioned finally.

"Well, when we were younger and had deep talks me and Mikey would sit like this, and it would always make both of us feel better," I explained. I had my fair share of heart felt moments with the other two brothers as well, but I always had a special connection with the orange clad turtle. Raph and I never talked much when we were younger, so this was all new to him.

"You know that was probably because he was trying to flirt with you, right?" a chuckle came from him. A small victory. Laughter always meant someone was feeling better.

I nodded a bit, "Yeah, but we both knew it would never work between us. I love Mikey; I love all of y'all, but he and I dating would never have worked…We're too much alike."

I didn't hear any responses to that, so I lifted my head a bit to see him looking at me with those light eyes of his, "What?" I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"Nothing," he quickly answered, and cleared his throat in an attempt to change the subject, "Just promise not to die on us anytime soon."

I laughed and laid my head against his shoulder, "Don't worry, that's not on my to-do list. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

His chin slowly and cautiously lowered itself on top of my head before he relaxed when I didn't move away, "You better not."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"So tell me again why we're doing this?"

My brothers and I were seated around Elena's apartment waiting for her to finish getting dressed. It had been a little more than a week since that evening she and I sat in my room and talked. And now for some reason we were all waiting for her to go walking around in the city in celebration of Halloween night. It sounded like some local bars and night clubs were working with one another to throw a combined festival during the night and she wanted to go.

"Because you promised to make up for being an ass for so long. Then you told her to pick how to make it up to her," Leo answered as he read a magazine on the couch. He stood up as Donnie needed his attention at the laptop he was typing at in the dining room.

"Yeah, dude. Even I know not to promise to make it up to a woman by letting them decide what to do," Mikey said as he closed the refrigerator after grabbing a soda. "That's like women 101."

I ran my hand over my face in frustration; it's not like I knew anything about chicks or even what to do in these kinds of situations. After we had talked in my room the other night it seemed like everything was looking better. Elena made me promise not to go out by myself with Casey anymore and my dumbass had agreed to it before even thinking.

Granted, Casey admitted we were running ourselves ragged without much progress, but that was besides the fact. I guess April had noticed the increase in patrols and had spoken to him as well. Traitor.

So because of that I _had_ to fall back on Leo's plan of gathering more intel before doing anything else. I hated it; I hated it so fucking much, and all I wanted to do was just bum rush into the purple dragon's main base and start beating the information out of people. But I guess that was off the damn table.

But then she just had to go and ask what I would do in order to make up being an ass those prior few days, and I stupidly said _whatever, you pick_.

Worst. Mistake. Ever.

Leo and Donnie were talking with one another before they motioned for me and Mikey to come over. Donnie had some sort of police report pulled up and he was pointing to a list he had been compiling as he talked with my eldest brother.

"Here, there's easily another nine or ten extra within the past couple of days…"

"What's going on?" I ask.

Leo stood there with his arms crossed, thinking deeply. "So I had Donnie run some checks and look for anything suspicious after you found all those dragons moving equipment the other week. Nothing out of the ordinary really except…"

"These," Donnie took over, talking quietly, "over the course of the past few weeks there's been an increase in missing persons reports. On average there's about twenty five a day, which is pretty typical in a city this large. Most people are located within a day or so; jilted lovers, quarreling parents and runaway children, those types. But now," he stopped as he pulled up the list he was making, "there's consistently thirty or more per day, with a lower number of those that are actually located."

"Ok, so you think they're connected to the purple dragons somehow?" Mikey asked from beside me.

"That's the thing, I don't really know if it's connected or not, but it definitely stands out," Donatello readjusted his glasses. "I've created a program that uses a mathematical algorithm to find any possible links between any of the missing persons…age, gender, socioeconomical status, etc. But there hasn't been any solid link between any of them yet."

"So what you're saying is we really have no idea and are still at square one," I growled slightly at the frustration brewing inside.

"Raph, I know you want answers as much as we do. You're not the only one who wants to get revenge for what they did to her, you know," Leo ended quickly as the sound of Elena's bedroom door began to open. "We'll finish this later. Just keep your eyes open tonight."

Wow, I never pegged Leo as one who acted on revenge; he was always high on his honor-duty-mercy horse. Ok, so he _was_ taking this whole thing seriously and not just screwing around. Good to know.

The fit of laughter Mikey was currently having drug me from my thoughts as I looked up and saw what costume choice Elena had picked for the evening.

"A ninja, seriously?" I shook my head at the idiotic idea, though it was hard not to keep my eyes on her.

"What's wrong with it? I can be like you guys for one night! Oh, and I even have green on it too, look," Elena turned around to show the green trim on the mainly black dress and her mask. "See, a ninja, and green since y'all are turtles!"

I turned towards Donnie, "You sure she didn't have any brain damage?" He smirked in amusement.

"Well, at least there's one night a year you guys can go out and actually enjoy being among people," the girl said as she walked over and got a beer out of the fridge. "No one will question how you look tonight. Remember how we used to do it all the time when we were younger?" she popped the top off of the bottle and took a big swig before looking at Mikey, his face lighting up at the memory.

I hadn't brought up the idea yet about training her further in martial arts due to her being seen with myself, and thus making her a target. This whole idea was starting to sound like a bad idea.

"Yeah, that was before we had a ton of people who wanted our shells. You _sure_ you want to go traipsing around the city at night in that outfit? That and I don't think ninjas would be able to fight very well in those heels," I pointed down to her thigh high boots that showed just a small bit of skin before meeting her skirt. "You're not climbing any rooftops in that getup."

"Well, when you put it that way _father_ ," she chastised as she walked over towards me, "Yeah, I'm sure." She smiled as she saw me frown. "You said yourself that the last couple of years had been pretty quiet. And look, no matter whoever your 'enemies' are," she made air quotes for emphasis, "they wouldn't be stupid enough to try anything in the middle of a huge crowd of people, all with cellphones to take pictures and video with."

She looked around at all four of us and sighed, "Look, guys, y'all need to learn how to live a little. There _is_ more to life than just training, patrols, and fighting." She looked at Mikey, "I know I have at least one drinking partner, right?"

He quickly nodded and smiled, but then stopped and slowly shook his head when he saw Leo looking at him. The moment he looked away he started nodding his head again. Idiot.

"And besides," Elena walked straight up to me and started poking my plastron, "you _promised_ I could pick whatever I wanted to do since you've been such an ass. No takesy backsies."

I rolled my eyes in irritation; at least this was just one night and I would be done owing her. "Fine."

She turned her eyes towards Leo and Donnie, "You two coming as well?"

The two looked at one another before Leo finally spoke, "Well, since there's not much we can do at the moment, sure, we can go as well. If nothing else we can make our way through the crowds and stop what mischief we come across. Though _no drinking_ for any of you, ok? We still need to be alert."

Donnie nodded and grinned at the slight reprieve he would get tonight. I saw Mikey nod at the instruction, but quietly hid a hand behind his back and crossed his fingers. Yeah, like no one saw that coming. Looks like I'd have to babysit two kids tonight.

Elena smiled wide and did a small dance; ugh, she really didn't need to move all that much in that outfit. She was going to freeze her ass off tonight.

Though I just looked down and realized she had a pair of rubber practice sais attached to her green belt. Not going to deny that I was a little happy when I noticed them.

Within minutes she had put in a request for an uber ride that would take all of us to the part of downtown where the festivities were to be held. I didn't even know what an _uber_ was, but the driver who showed up liked mine and my brother's "costumes" and kept asking questions on how we did our makeup.

Ugh. Tonight was going to suck.

We finally, finally, _finally_ reached the bar district and hopped out of the van a few blocks down since some of the roads had been blocked off. Sure enough I saw her cringe in the slight breeze, and I inwardly laughed at her…she even knew she was going to freeze her ass off.

Donnie and Leo branched off from us once we hit the crowds to do their own thing; of course Mikey stayed with me and Elena so she could have a drinking buddy.

I hated crowds; too many people and too many places for someone to hide. I hated loud music; not only was it irritating, but it could also mask other sounds that could alert you of any potential attackers.

Jesus, I was starting to sound like Leo.

I felt Elena grab my hand and excitedly pull me into the crowd towards one particular bar she had already sent Mikey to. He seemed like he was in the perfect environment, constantly smiling and high fiving people for praising our "costumes"; well at least one of us was going to have fun tonight.

She shoved a drink into my hand as she excitedly sipped on her mixed drink. Thankfully it was just a cup of beer, and not some sort of froo-frooey concoction like the one she had to her lips. I shook my head at her; I knew Mikey was going to be drinking so there was no way I was going to be drunk as well.

"C'mon, Raph…remember? _Anything_ I want," she said loudly over the noises from the crowd. She really was going to keep bringing that up all night, wasn't she? I looked at her as she poked me, "Leo forgot that part. I just want you to have some fun for once, ya know. Sometimes you have a stick up your ass that's even bigger than he does."

I did not.

"Fine, but just _one_. Someone's gotta be able to take care of _him_ when he goes down," I pointed over at my little brother, who was already working on his second drink. She smiled genuinely and raised her cup to toast mine before putting it back to her lips and taking a long swig.

We made our way down the street, visiting a bar here and there for the two idiots to refill their drinks. Out on the street sat some lucky food truck vendors; they were sure going to make a killing tonight. Elena stood in line and bought all three of us some polish sausages that were pretty delicious and paired well with the beer I had still been sipping on.

Elena twirled and started dancing as a space opened in the crowded street, the nearby club playing some sort of loud hip hop song. Mikey laughed and joined right in with her, gaining some cheers from the crowd.

Those two really _were_ a lot alike; like freaky scary. They actually moved as one form during the music, like they choreographed the dance or some shit.

So the other night when she had mentioned she couldn't be with him because they were too much alike, did that mean she had thought about it before? She had to have because she seemed to have a simple answer; like it didn't take her any time to think about it.

 _We both knew it would never work between us._ Had they actually discussed it with one another? Had they tried anything? He had hinted at it when we were spying on her coffee date, but I had never thought about it before.

Why the _hell_ was I thinking about this now? I couldn't…no, I shook my head to rid the thought. No, it wasn't going to happen. But when I looked up to see her _really_ close to Mikey in a provocative pose because of their dancing I could feel an odd tinge of jealousy.

The crowd cheered as the music ended before another song started, and I saw her flushed face lock eyes with mine as if she were searching for me. She smiled and ran over, trying to drag me back to where she was with Mikey to dance with her as well.

"Oh, uh uh. Nope…This turtle don't dance," I tried to admit as I pulled my arm away from hers. Within seconds she was back on me, pulling at the wraps I had on my forearms.

"C'mon! It'll be fun!" she laughed as she instructed Mikey to go grab another round of drinks, "Don't make me remind you-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I sighed as I chugged down the last couple bit of my beer before tossing the cup into a nearby trash can. I made the quotation marks and rolled my eyes, " _whatever you wanted…_ "

"Hey, don't promise what you can't provide," she said as she pulled me where now some other people were dancing in the street. "You know this isn't hard; Mikey does it well enough. It's not too far off from your bad ass ninja skills, right?"

I kind of stood there awkwardly as she danced up next to me. I was never one for dancing, that was Mikey's schtick. But when she put it like that I guess it made sense. I moved around like the other people around me and actually started enjoying myself. Her body moved against mine to the music, and for a few moments we were one form. She had leaned back into me, the smell of her shampoo wafted up to my nose. I remembered that smell from the other night, but had never put two and two together.

Elena reached back and grabbed my hips, holding me close to her in time to the music. I didn't know what else to do, but followed other peoples' cue and reached forward to hold her hips securely against mine. I leaned my head down near her neck and moved in time with her.

I don't know if it was the thumping of the music, her smell, or even the beer that I had already finished, but I got lost in the moment.

"Here you guys go, next round!" Mikey jumped up at us, three drinks in his hands.

I sucked in a deep breath and must have jumped back a good foot or two at the intrusion. Thank goodness these shorts had some extra room in them, because I could feel the electricity through my body at having her so close to me.

Elena blinked a couple of times too, I guess she just registered how close we were dancing just a few seconds prior; she blushed furiously and thanked Mikey for the drink. I grabbed mine and chugged it down in just a few gulps. Jesus I needed a cold shower.

We all decided to keep moving down the street to see what other kind of entertainment had been planned for the evening. Some streets that branched off had live bands down them, while others had acrobats who set up their ropes and other tools of the trade between buildings. Other acrobats on stilts would occasionally make their way through those slightly less crowded areas.

"Elena? Is that you?" I heard a voice shout out from a few yards away. None other than Mr. Prime Real Estate himself maneuvered his way through the crowd and waved to her. He was dressed in scrubs and his doctor's coat, but had on a pair of black-rimmed glasses.

Elena stopped suddenly at the reunion; was that a flash of hesitation that crossed her face? She finally waved back as he came up towards us.

"Hey! Cool seeing you here," he glanced carefully at me and Mikey since we were so much bigger than him before smiling back at her, "I tried messaging you the other week, but hadn't heard anything back yet. Didn't know if I might have said something screwed up when we had coffee."

"Oh!" she squeaked as if she remembered something, before pulling out her cellphone from her bra. Why that surprised me I don't really know, but I just _now_ realized she wasn't carrying a purse. "Here, my last phone got busted the other week and I only just got this one like yesterday. Here, let me put your number in here again, I'm so sorry." She typed at the screen and plugged his number into her phone before storing it back in its place.

I wonder what else she could carry in there.

"So it's kind of funny we run into each other out here," Mr. Perfect said while adjusting his glasses, "I was supposed to work tonight, but when I got there they said they didn't need me, which explains my lame outfit. Figured I'd give the whole Clark Kent thing a go."

Great, so he's perfect _and_ a nerd.

"Who are your friends?" He asked as both Mikey and I pretended to not really notice him there.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. A little bit to drink tonight," she apologized before motioning to me, "This is Raphael, and over here is his brother Michelangelo."

He stuck his hand out and expected a handshake. Good God. Fine.

"Wow, you two have great costumes, so much detail and wonderful makeup skills. You must do theater or movie work, right? How do you two know Elena? We went to high school together…"

"Oh, them? We uh, met at, um…yoga class! Yeah!" She seriously was going to go with that lie? Yeah, I can tell she'd had enough alcohol.

"Yoga?" he raised his eyebrow, in obvious disbelief at her admission.

"Yeah, son," Mikey quickly interrupted as he leaned an arm on Brad's shoulder, "We gotta keep it all flexible, you know, _for the ladies_ ," he wiggled his eye ridges. "That's a great place to pick up hotties. I mean, look, we found _her_ there."

I almost laughed out loud at the facial expression of the doc in front of us; I don't think he could tell if Mikey was actually serious or not. But either way, I think it worked because within another minute or so they had said their goodbyes to one another with a promise of Elena getting back together with him for another meeting.

"Yoga class, eh?" I poked fun at her as he walked away.

"Hey, hey, hey," she pushed on my plastron, "I'm a little intoxicated if you couldn't tell, and I didn't see either of _you two_ coming to my aid! I thought you were supposed to rescue me if anything went wrong?"

"I didn't see any danger around, did you Raph?" Mikey laughed as he mocked looking around through the crowd.

"Nope, not a one," I replied. I could see the irritation cover her features, but disappear as she took another swig of her drink. I guess alcohol can fix most social awkwardness.

We ended up putzing around the crowds a little more before calling it a night; I texted Leo and Donnie to let them know I was escorting Tweedledee and Tweedledum back to Elena's apartment and that me and Mikey would be back soon. The walk back from her apartment would give Mikey some time to sober up as well, because I really didn't want to hear any lip from Leo tonight.

We did do that Uber thing again to get her back home safe. Mikey waited down by the sewer while I went up the elevator with Elena to make sure she got into the apartment ok. She wasn't falling over drunk, but she was pretty lit; I was impressed she was able to stay upright on those heels the whole time.

The elevator dinged as it reached the top floor, and I ducked a little to exit without hitting my head. Humans needed to stop being so short dammit.

Before she could input the code incorrectly for the third time I reached over here and typed the right numbers; we didn't need a false alarm tonight. She smiled gratefully and opened the door before reaching back down in her bra to retrieve her money and cellphone to dump on the front table.

What, do those things have friggin' pockets in them? She hopped around awkwardly after unzipping her boots to slide them off and just dumped them where they lay. I could hear her sigh in relief as she stood on her own two bare feet again; I guess they weren't very comfortable.

"Here, help me with this," she held up her long wavy hair to show me a zipper on the back of her dress. She looked back and saw me looking at her funny before sighing, "Look, I had a hell of a time getting this on when I was _sober_ , there'd be no way I'd be able to get it off now and I really don't want to sleep in it.

I hesitantly unzipped the back of her dress, her creamy white skin shone brightly compared to the blackness of the material next to it. She quickly thanked me and held the dress to her body as she walked to the bedroom, telling me to hold on for a few seconds.

I could hear grunting and some mild cursing as she apparently struggled with her dress, and I couldn't help but let a small chuckle escape my throat.

"Hardy har har, Raph, very funny," she finally said as she came out of her room in a tank top and shorts. I could see the wound on her shoulder had healed pretty well, but it was still obviously newish and bright pink.

"Just tell me one thing," she said quietly, "did you have fun?"

I thought for a few moments and found I couldn't disagree, and she could see it on my face. She smiled and crossed her arms, "See? Fun does a body good."

"Thanks for bringing me home, and for everything," she continued, "I realize now I was kind of pushy with the alcohol and stuff all night, so I want to apologize for that."

"Nah, it's not a big deal," I replied to her, "It was just you bein you."

Her eyebrows knitted in confusion before a goofy smile crossed her lips, "You know, I don't know if that was supposed to be a jab at me, or if you were being nice. So I'm just going to let the liquor talk and say wow you were being nice for once."

"Heh, well there's a first for everything, isn't there…"

"C'mere, I want a hug before you go. Mikey's probably getting bored so who knows what trouble he's going to get into," she said after a moment.

Elena came forward and stretched up on the balls of her feet to wrap her arms around me, but I didn't realize she was stretching so high as I had leaned over to give her a hug.

"Ow!" She cried out as my forehead hit her face and she bit her lip a little.

"You ok?" I cupped her face with both of my hands and I looked down at her lips to see what kind of damage I had caused. Her lip had swelled just a tiny bit, but I couldn't tell if it was because they were flushed from the alcohol or if I had actually hurt her.

Before I could react I felt a pair of small and warm hands place themselves on top of my own three fingered monstrosities. The touch was gentle, and I paused to look in her eyes. The light from the front hallway reflected in those gray orbs, and I momentarily lost track of time.

I hadn't even realized she moved her hands to the sides of my face and pulled it down so my lips could meet hers. I closed my eyes as she pressed her lips to mine; they were warm, soft, velvety…and perfect. I vaguely felt her arms wrap around my neck and pull me closer, our kiss deepening, our tongues exploring one another gently but with a desperate need. It felt like I was struck by lightning and was grounded to only this one spot, with her. One hand traveled to the middle of her back while the other held the back of her head, holding her firmly in place.

I felt like I was drowning in her being, and after a few moments my body pulled back with the need for air. We both pulled apart at the same time, both had the same incredulous look on our faces.

Oh my god. What have I done.

"I, uh…um…" I stammered, trying to think of something, anything to diffuse the situation. Her lips were open, breathing deeply after the moment just spent together. I couldn't tell her reaction.

"I…I gotta go," I felt myself saying, going against everything my body wanted to do.

So I did the only thing I could at that moment. I left.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

 _THWACK!_

 _I gotta go._

 _THWACK THWACK!_

The burning of his lips still lingered on mine; the feeling of his hands on my back and head still indented.

 _THWACK!_

I walked over and angrily grabbed the four kunai lodged deeply into the wooden dummy against the brick wall in my bedroom. There were dozens more holes in the wood showing my frustration in the evening's events.

I don't know what came over me. Why the hell did I pull him down into a kiss? Stupid stupid stupid.

THWACK THWACK THWACK THWACK!

ARGH! The scene had been replaying itself in my head for the past few hours, and I was so pissed with myself afterwards that I came straight here into my bedroom and started chucking kunai at the wooden target in anger.

He had had a good time, and I had to go and fuck it up by kissing him. After all these years he had _finally_ started opening up to me, and I just had to go and scare him off by doing something selfishly stupid.

I grabbed the bottle of liquor on my side table and took a long sip of the harsh liquid; I really should have stopped when I got home, but after that clusterfuck it just seemed like the right thing to do.

Tonight had been awesome; me, him, and Mikey had had a great time. My stomach did flips as I remembered my impromptu dance with him in the middle of the street. Yeah, I had danced with Mikey as well, but once Raph and I started being so close to each other it just kind of clicked.

I surprisingly loved it. I loved his strong arms holding me, almost possessively, like he was warding off any other potential guys from coming in and whisking me away. He was close enough for me to smell his specific scent, that lovely mixture of musk, leather, and a few other things I couldn't quite put my finger on; it was intoxicating…even more than the few drinks I had.

Was it just the alcohol talking though? Was I interesting in _Raphael_ like that? I had never put much thought into it since he and I didn't really like one another as kids. I mean, Mikey and I had a discussion before I left for school about how, even though I loved him, he was just a brother to me. But did that count for any of the others? I'd only ever seen Leo and Donnie as big brothers in my eyes, there was no way there'd ever be any attraction towards them.

I raked my fingers over my face in frustration before I let loose my kunai again. I did know one thing; things were going to be awkward unless I fixed it, and _soon_.

But how could I fix this? How could I seriously go up to Raph and try to tell him what I thought about this situation…when I didn't even know how I felt about it myself.

The sound of buzzing caught my attention momentarily, and I walked out to the front hallway to see my cellphone vibrating towards the edge of the table. I quickly ran over to grab the device before it fell, and noticed it was Donatello calling.

"Hey Donnie," I answered after clearing my throat and trying not to sound like I had been drinking, "What's going on?"

"Hey Elena, sorry for calling so early, I didn't wake you, did I?" Hell I didn't even know what time it was since I had been venting my frustration in my bedroom for who knew how long. I glanced over at the stove's digital clock to see it was almost four thirty.

"Ah, no, that's ok. I was having issues sleeping anyway," I replied, trying to sound as tired as possible to make it sound convincing. "What's the special occasion?"

"Is everything ok there? I got an alert that one of the silent alarms on the windows went off. The uh," he momentarily paused as I heard typing in the background, "Looks like the northwest corner of the apartment, so, uh...that's the balcony in your bedroom."

I froze at the information; someone had tried to get in while I was here? "I, uh…I didn't hear anything. Think I should go check it out?"

"No, one of us is heading out now to come check it fast. Just go get somewhere safe and stay hunkered down until we get there, ok?"

I felt silly as I realized I was nodding, "Yeah, ok. See you soon." I pressed the screen to end the call and looked around warily, like someone would just jump out from behind a corner. I quickly ran to my room and grabbed my kunai before shutting myself into the bathroom and locking the door. That was the only room that did not have a window, so if _anyone_ was actually in here, they'd have to bust through the door to get me.

But then again, I would be trapped too. I smacked my forehead in frustration. Idiot.

My head swam from my consumption as I kept my breathing shallow, afraid that if someone had gotten in here they'd hear me. I knew if they were in the apartment they'd eventually find me in here, but dammit at the moment it kept me calm. The minutes ticked by slowly until I finally heard the voice that I _didn't_ want to hear right now…

"Elena, are you in here?" Raph's voice echoed through the apartment, a slight hesitation could be heard on the edge of his question. Maybe he was forced to come check on me instead of Leo or Donnie. He probably didn't want to be here anymore than I wanted him to.

I sighed as I stood up and unlocked the door, slowly opening it to peek out. I saw the large turtle at the end of the hallway by the doorway to my room. The sound of the lock got his attention and he quickly turned towards the noise, his hands grasping his weapons.

I felt heat rush to my cheeks as my stomach flipped around at the sight of him; apparently my body hadn't forgotten our last encounter.

I couldn't tell his expression, but could tell he was also struggling with something internally.

"Hey, sorry for you having to come out here so late," I wrung my hands around the hilt on my blade, "Is everything ok?"

He nodded his head back towards my room, "Yeah, I checked the balcony, and nothing looked outta place, so may just chalk it up to a buggy system, though I know Donnie will just whine if you tell him that."

I let a small chuckle escape; yeah, I could hear Donnie's voice saying something like _with the precise calibration of the system there would be a .0000531% chance of a malfunction_ or something equally nerdy.

"All I found was this," he tossed me a small object. Turning it over in my hands I saw it was a pen; one of the ones that pharmaceutical reps would give out like candy at the hospital. "Look familiar?"

"Yeah, dad brings these home by the truckloads. I don't think I ever ran out during high school and college," I paused as I thought hard. "I probably left it out there one night after sitting on the balcony."

An uncomfortable silence fell between us. The words that formed in my head, what I _really_ wanted to talk about, would be a doubtful reprieve from the awkwardness.

"You holdin up?" he asked hesitantly. I nodded slowly in response after a moment, though I couldn't stand to look up to his eyes.

"I, uh…" he stumbled over his words slightly as he continued, "I saw your training dummy in your room. You're getting better with your aim."

"Thanks…"

A few moments of silence passed between us as he cleared his throat, "Well, I uh…I guess I'll let you get back to sleep. Just let us know if you have any more issues." He started to move back towards the balcony in my room, just a few feet before he'd leave the apartment.

"Raph, wait," I said quickly as he had turned to leave. He turned back at me, and my voice caught in my throat. What the hell was I doing?

"Maybe we should talk about earlier," I could feel the doorframe to the bathroom against my back, and truthfully the idea of just shutting myself away sounded wonderful at the moment.

"Ok, talk," his words were tense, not really knowing which way the conversation would go.

"I, uh…I wanted to apologize for earlier," my eyes stayed glued to the floor, not having the courage to face him. "I shouldn't have done that, it was a mistake to push that on you and wasn't right of me, and I'm sorry if it made you feel uncomfortable."

I saw in my peripheral vision that he had crossed him arms, which he used to do a _lot_ as a kid when he didn't want to hear what you had to say. Ugh…he must be really upset with me for putting him in this position. He must have not liked it, or just thought I was a drunk chick getting handsy.

"Maybe it would be better if we…um, we-"

"Forget it happened? I'm ok with that." He said sternly before turning to go back towards the balcony, "Anything else?"

Yeah, I wanted to tell him how much I liked it, and how much I thought _he_ liked it too. And inwardly how I wanted to do it _again_. The more my mouth was saying to forget it my heart was arguing and saying _no, go for it, you idiot._

"No, that's it." _Dammit, what was I doing?_

"Ok, see you later then."

And with that he was gone. Again. _Wait, no!_ I ran to the bedroom and saw he had already closed the balcony doors. I burst through them, but by that time all I saw was the manhole cover being slid back into place down below.

Dammit Elena, you really have fucked up this time, haven't you.

"And then after that he just said _OK, see you later then_ before jumping off the balcony and disappearing into the sewer," I sighed in frustration at the memory as I rested my head onto my folded arms at the kitchen's island. I rolled my head to the side to glance at the orange clad turtle in front of me, "I really fucked it up this time, haven't I Mikey?"

I hadn't slept _at all_ since Raphael had left earlier this morning, and combining that with my continued alcohol consumption and exhaustion from the evening's events I was a mess. I don't really even remember Michelangelo coming into the apartment, himself trying to nurse a hangover and surprised to find me still being intoxicated.

He poured the freshly brewed coffee into two cups and passed one straight to me while simultaneously grabbing the bottle of liquor I was trying to take a sip out of. He pointed to the two small Tylenol that sat on the counter. "Here, drink this and take those, it'll help." He turned back to the stove where he was scrambling some eggs and sausage, with some toast as a starch to help settle my stomach.

I poked at the cup, not really wanting any of it; I'd rather stay in this haze the rest of my life since I was so good at screwing things up. Though the breakfast he was making _did_ smell amazing. I glanced over at the stove's display and realized it was two in the afternoon. Ok, well brunch.

I slid the pills over to me and begrudgingly took them with a careful sip of coffee before resting my head back down on my arms. He slid the finished product onto two plates and carried them around the island to take a seat next to me. I poked at the food with a fork while he dug into his.

"So check it out," Mikey said between mouthfuls, "Maybe he just needs some time. I knew he was acting funny when we went back home last night, but of course you know he's not the Dr. Phil type."

"I'm gonna tell you something, and I swear it better not get back to him, because I like my head where it's at, ok?" I glanced over at him as I tempted a bite; it was pretty good.

I could see the turtle take a second to try and get his thoughts in order; "Ok, so the other week when you had that coffee date? Yeah, we uh…we were kind of watching you from the alley across the street."

He looked over at me as I raised an eyebrow in question. "Mikey," I said as I took another bite, "I don't think I have enough coherent brain cells left to try and figure out why you two were spying, so why don't you just go and tell me instead so I don't have to brain please."

"Look, so I overheard you that day making plans with _Bradford_ ," he made a snooty sounding voice when he said Brad's name, eliciting a small smile from me. "So I thought maybe him seeing you shop around per se might get the ball rolling, ya know?"

Mikey looked over at me and saw my expression, "I know that Raph's got _something_ for you. You don't see how he is when you're not around lately. I figured I could just help it out a little."

"So why did he act all pissed off this morning," I lifted my head to sit upright on my arms instead of being sideways. The combination of coffee, food, and meds was making it feel slightly less ran-over-by-a-truck and more just ran-into-a-wall effect.

"Because you basically threw away the whole situation and confirmed his thoughts about it never working between a human and turtle," he motioned his fork around for emphasis on his words. "Like he probably thinks you're ashamed of coming down to 'his' level, you get me?"

I sat silent for a few moments, taking in a couple bites of food, "So do you think it _could_ work? You know, between a human and turtle?"

I saw him side glance over to me and wiggle his eye ridges, "You know I'm always up for finding that out babe. Though I think your family holidays might get a little awkward."

There's the Mikey I was used to. I rolled my eyes and leaned forward to take another sip of coffee, "No fair taking advantage of me in my vulnerable state right now. And here I thought all you and your brothers were all 'noble' and some crap."

He snorted in laughter next to me, "No, that's just Leo. Hell even Donnie has some skeletons in his closet, though I'm not telling _anything_."

"So how do I go about fixing this? Do you think he'd even want to be around me anymore?"

A few moments pass in silence, and I could tell the youngest turtle was thinking deeply. "Well, here's the most likely situation. He's probably going to act like when we were all kids, being the asshole, not talking much, etc, etc, etc. _BUT_ I think he'll come around again."

"Truthfully, I would just suggest going on a few dates with Dr. Charming to get the ball rolling." He saw me look at him funny when he mentioned the nickname and continued, "Look, _Bradford_ or whatever his name is. Raph'll get jealous and come around. If that's what you want, at least."

I don't really know _what_ I want. Hell, I was perfectly happy being single as it was, and I still have all my career plans to think about too. I just realized I hadn't even _thought_ about those plans for a few weeks, being so busy with recovering and training with the guys.

My stomach was starting to feel better, and I leaned over on the orange clad turtle's arm, "Why couldn't you have been a girl, Mikey…You're pretty much like my one true girlfriend as it is."

"Ouch, friendzoned…harsh words Elena," he mocked pulling a dagger from his heart, "like you said years ago, it never would have worked between us, though at the time I didn't agree." He lifted the arm and wrapped it around me in a comforting hug before kissing the top of my head. "Besides, I wouldn't be able to swap dresses with you. We're different sizes and I've got way more curves."

An honest laugh escaped my mouth as I burst into giggles next to him. It felt good to truly _laugh_ after the shitty night I had. I realized just how tired I was from not sleeping all night and nestled into Mikey's side as he finished eating his food while I only picked at mine. We used to talk all through the night as teenagers, and would often wake up sleeping next to each other, oftentimes still sitting up.

He was definitely a lot larger than he used to be, but it still felt comforting all the same.

I must have dozed off slightly, because I jolted awake as he was trying to put his and my plate together so he could slide it back across the island.

"Here, c'mon sleeping beauty, you've had a long night and need your beauty rest," he helped me down from the stool and walked with me to my bedroom.

"Ooo Mikey, taking a drunk girl to her bedroom, might need to question your honor," I joked as I tried to stifle a yawn. I saw him smile in reference to our earlier conversation.

"Nah, I'd much rather you be very awake and sober to experience all of _this_ ," he indicated his whole body and I smirked before pulling the covers back to my bed and crawling in.

"Sorry for being a piss poor host. You have to cook and clean for me while I just drink and then go pass out."

The orange clad turtle smiled as he pulled the sheets up on me, "Don't worry, I'm planning on abusing my guest powers by playing on your playstation all day; you've got a way bigger TV than we do."

I felt my eyes being heavy, oh so heavy, and wanted to do nothing more than just go to sleep.

"You know I love you, right Mikey?"

I moment of silence followed, and I peeked one weary eye at the door to see him looking at me.

"Never had a doubt in my mind. Love you too E. Get some sleep."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"So then he calmly looked at us and said 'I seem to have a splinter, I think that you may need to remove it'!"

I giggled slightly at Brad's story over dinner; he always enjoyed telling his more memorable emergency room stories when we were together, but sometimes he didn't realize they weren't the most _appetizing_ dinner conversations. Thankfully we had just finished eating. This one had been tame compared to some of the other ones; apparently a guy had been in a motorcycle accident and had been impaled by a slat of fence from his ribs to his shoulder.

Lifting the glass of wine to my lips I took the last sip; I'd never been a big fan of the bitter drink, but it seemed like he was really into it, so I drank it to make him more comfortable. He could go on and on about different vintages or specific _notes_ , whatever those were, to each type of wine. I'd much rather have a straight bourbon or mixed drink, or even a good beer, but I guess being a wine aficionado was a thing nowadays.

It was Christmas Eve, and since he had to work the next day, Brad had decided to take me out tonight. We had been seeing each other for about a month and a half now, and things were OK. He was a decent enough guy, and I was truthfully surprised that he hadn't snagged anyone before; most girls would probably sell one of their ovaries to have a chance at the specimen that sat before me. Maybe his hectic work schedule didn't allow for a decent relationship.

The smile still adorned his face after telling his story, and he tilted his head slightly to look at me with those hazel eyes. "You look so beautiful tonight."

My cheeks flushed at his compliment, and I squeaked out a small thanks. He motioned for the waiter that he was ready to settle the check; I had offered to cover my own portion earlier in the meal and he said he wanted to treat me tonight.

We gathered our coats from the claim desk and made our way out into the frigid evening; I instantly pulled my long coat closer to me and it did little to help; at least it wasn't windy tonight. We weren't that far from his place, a gorgeous penthouse that bordered Central Park, so we decided to just walk to the restaurant a few blocks down.

The doorman let us through the door and we took the elevator up towards his suite. Like seriously, I was in awe at how much space he had. I don't even want to know how much he was spending a month on this place. He had just recently moved here, though, saying he was getting a monthly stipend for helping his Uncle Barney with his research. Every time I tried to get more specifics about the project he skirted around the issue, citing that he didn't think his uncle would appreciate any info that could be leaked.

Brad opened the door to his penthouse and let me walk through first before helping to take my coat off and hang it on a nearby hook.

"Would you like another glass of wine?" he asked as he walked over to his under-the-counter wine cooler and pulled out a bottle. I held up my hand to decline and requested a glass of water instead as I walked over to the large plate window that was the entire wall of the apartment. The view of the park was spectacular, even at nighttime. I always loved watching all of the twinkling lights that came with living in the big city.

"It's breathtaking, isn't it," he plainly stated, coming up behind me and handing me the bottle as he wrapped his arm around my waist. I smiled a bit and took the water bottle, opening it and taking a long sip. I wanted to get rid of that wine aftertaste.

I could feel him playing with the waves of black hair down the middle of my back, "Though not nearly as much as you are." His face got close to my neck and I leaned into the kisses that he put in the crook. Slight tingles went up my spine. His hands roamed down my sides before resting in front of my waist, pulling me close to him. I could feel the tightening in his pants and pulled away slightly.

We hadn't ventured to that territory yet. I was not a virgin by any means, but I just kept putting it off when it came to him. I don't really know why, but every time it got close to being unclothed I ended up gently stopping. He like to joke and call me old fashioned. He could believe what he wanted, but for some reason I was just not ready to go down that road with him yet, if ever.

He was really a nice enough guy, but deep down I just don't know if he and I were a good match. There was this little voice in the back of my head that nagged me, saying there was something not right about the situation. I had been ignoring it the entire time, just chalking it up to my prior relationships that ended poorly. My parents thought we were a terrific match, and sure, we looked good together. He liked to say that _all_ the time, but I wasn't just going to be someone's arm candy.

He noticed my hesitance and stopped with his attention to my neck, instead putting a hand on either side of my neck and rubbing my shoulders. _That_ he was good at, I'll give it to him. After a few minutes of massaging he leaned around to look at my face.

"I got you something," Brad said quietly, looking to see my reaction, "I _know_ we said not to bother getting each other gifts, but I couldn't resist. He reached down into his pocket and withdrew what looked to be a small box, something that would normally carry jewelry. I held the box in my hands, raising my eyebrows in question towards him.

His smile widened as he saw my reaction, "Go ahead, open it."

My stomach did small flips as I opened the box. Oh thank god it wasn't like an engagement ring or anything, but it wasn't much better than that either. All that was tucked into the box was a small key.

"I figured we've spent so much time together recently, that maybe we should move onto the next step," he seemed very excited about the whole prospect, "I've got a couple extra rooms here we could bring all your stuff into, oh, and you wouldn't even have to worry about paying rent or anything since I've got it more than covered…"

He actually kept going on, but I kind of zoned him out as time slowed around me. He was wanting me to move in with him. We had only been dating for like, what, _six weeks_? That's totally not enough time to know someone well enough to move in with them. Hell, if you think about it we'd only seen each other on average like two to three times a week for coffee and dinner dates since he never had time for any other kind of excursion, so only like fifteen times and he wanted me to _move in with him_?

"And think about it, the other rooms face this way too, so you could wake up to _this_ every morning…" he indicated the park below as he paused to look at me. I tried to put on a brave face quickly enough, but he saw the momentary crack in my mask.

"You're…you're not happy with it?" he asked hesitantly.

Oh, well shit. "No, it's not that Brad…It's a really nice gesture," I saw him cringe when I said the word _gesture_ , but didn't really know what else I could have said to make it sound any better. "I just think this is maybe a little faster than I'm comfortable with."

He stared at me silently for a few moments, before he furrowed his eyebrows as anger set upon his face. He always was so pleasant when I'd been around him I had never actually _seen_ him angry before today; it was pretty unsettling.

"You know," he sighed as he took a step back, his hand on his hip. "There's a dozen girls right now who would do anything to get with all of this," he motioned around the apartment, "to get with me. And hell, some of them have actually even made it in here before."

"But you, I willingly hand you the key to the kingdom and you're going to just turn it _down_? Seriously?" I had never seen this side to him before; was the entire thing an act? What was he trying to get at then?

He folded his arms across his chest, "I get it now. I bet there's nothing that this poor little boy from the south side could give the princess of Dr. Carter. This is all probably just chump change to you, isn't it?"

OK, now he's crossed a line, and I could finally see all the pieces begin to click into place.

"So you were just using me to get into a better position over at the hospital?" I spat out, feeling my own anger bubble to the surface.

"Of course I was," he hissed back at me, "It takes _years_ to get into a cushier job to where you're not busting your ass every single damned day, and they definitely wouldn't look at me twice given my background. You should know it's all in _who_ you know."

"Your dad told me you had just moved back, so I figured I'd woo you and work my way up the chain in the express lane. But no, you can't just fall in line like all the other rich bitches out there who just say yes and stay out of sight."

Okay, _now_ I was pissed off. Not only was he using me to get his way, but he was dragging my family into it as well. Only I can talk shit about them.

"You know," he quieted down a little and put his hand out towards me, "You could still fix all of this. Just do what you're told like a good girl and everything will be forgiven."

That's it, I'd had it. "Fuck you, take your damned key back," I held the box towards him, "Maybe you can convince some other floozy to take it instead."

His eyes narrowed before his arm thrust out, smacking the box from my hand. It would have been my face, but I leaned back just in time to narrowly avoid that blow.

If looks could kill he would be twitching on the floor right now. I didn't even give him a chance to say anything else as I turned around and stormed towards the door to get my coat and purse. This guy could take a long walk off a short cliff for all I cared.

Right as I was about to reach my coat I felt a strong hand grab my left forearm and clamp his fingers down _hard_ , "Where the fuck do you think you're going?"

Instead of staying and arguing with him I did the first thing I could think of. I whirled around, and with as much force that I could muster I sucker punched him square in the mouth. Pain seared through my hand as I realized it had been open, so some of his teeth had ripped open the skin on my knuckles, but I didn't care. He didn't let go even though he was surprised, so I punched him a second time square on the nose before he could counteract.

I heard a sickening crunch and grinned as he finally let go of my arm. I grabbed my coat and purse with my left hand and got to the door as I saw him dazed behind me.

"Stay the hell away from me, asshole. Oh, and maybe you should get that checked out by a _doctor_ ," I spat out as I threw the water bottle at him and slammed the front door behind me.

Of course there was something wrong with him, my body had been screaming at me for six weeks but I had just ignored it. I had ignored the warning signs, but at least I had caught it before we had gone any further in our relationship. Thank _God_ we hadn't done anything else.

The doorman looked at me funny as I stormed out of the building and across the street to the park. It was in the teens temperature-wise, snowy, and friggin _cold_ out, so I shrugged my coat on as I crossed the street. I really began to regret wearing a skirt and high heels tonight. Why couldn't fancier places just let you get by with jeans in the winter? Well, at least the coat covered some of my legs. There was a couple of spots I could cut across to save some time getting over to the subway system, but I just wanted to get home as soon as I could to get out of the cold.

My hand began to throb, and I rolled up my sleeve in order to keep the blood from getting too much on the fabric. I hated laundry more than anything else, and I really didn't want to spend hours trying to salvage this coat. I couldn't really get a good look at my knuckle because it was darker in the park now, but it hurt like a son of a bitch.

Heh, not as much as his face was probably hurting. At least _that_ made me feel a little better about the situation.

But yet again, my terrible choice in men came back to bite me in the ass. Every. Single. _TIME._

I realized as I walked that the snow that began falling when I was at dinner had provided another fresh coat to what was already on the ground. I reached down into a small pile and scooped some of the fresh snow onto my knuckles. Oh hot damn that hurt but felt good all at the same time. I was sure going to look weird walking to the subway scooping snow onto my hand, but truthfully didn't care.

"Elena?" I jumped about three feet in the air and screeched at the noise. I had been walking through a more forested part of the park and had been taken by surprise. Though I doubted any attempted attacker or rapist would actually try to get my attention beforehand.

I glanced around before I saw four huge forms emerge from the forest; it was the boys. What were they doing out here at this time of the night? Duh, probably doing their patrols.

A slight feeling of guilt ran through me at the sight of them. I wasn't avoiding them, but hadn't been seeing them nearly as much as I used to when I first moved home. I was spending so much time with Brad that I hadn't seen them as much. I trained down in the sewers like once a week, but something had changed after that night that Raphael and I kissed. There was this tenseness that ran throughout the entire lair, and I could tell everyone felt awkward with me there.

The only person who didn't seem affected was Michelangelo, but he was never affected by stuff like this. That and he was the one who had pushed me to move on for a little while.

Raphael was hardly ever there when I was anyway; it was like he was actively avoiding me, which was fine. Every time I did see him that same tingling feeling had come back as if my body remembered that moment shared between us.

"We thought that was you, is everything ok?" It was Leonardo who had been talking when they emerged from the trees. Sure enough, that spark erupted in my belly when I saw the red clad turtle, who seemed less than enthused at their location. Ugh, his indifference just made me more irritated. I just wish he would tell me if he never wanted to see me again so I could disappear and make him happier.

"If you consider getting into an argument and then dumping your boyfriend as 'ok' then I'm having just a grand old time. Merry friggin Christmas to me," I spat out, though instantly felt guilty. Leo didn't need that kind of attitude from me. He was just kind of in the crosshairs of my frustration at the moment.

"Dude, you dumped Prince Charming?!" Mikey pushed past Donatello to come stand in front of me, "What _happened_?" What was I, a walking TMZ episode?

"Not really in the mood to talk about it right now, Mikey," I reached up with my bad hand to rub my forehead, but stopped just as I was about to put my bloody fingers on my face. _That_ would look real good in the subway.

"What happened to your hand?" I heard a deep voice say from behind all the others. Before anyone else could speak Raphael pushed his way up towards me and gently took my arm in his hands, turning my hand over to look at the knuckles. He pulled up my other sleeve and saw my other arm where deep purple marks had formed where Brad's fingers had dug into my forearm.

"He do this to you?" he growled out before reaching down to grab some more snow. He cupped his hand and laid mine down in the small pile, making it easier to keep the snow in contact with the torn flesh. The coldness from the snow helped to numb some of the pain that had flared up.

"Well, technically those marks are from him," I indicated at the bruises. I really didn't want to rehash everything that happened right at this moment; it was still too fresh in my memory.

"As for my hand, let's just say that he's not going to be a pretty boy for a good two weeks or more after I got done with him," I smirked as I remember the satisfaction I felt when I broke his nose.

I heard a small laugh erupt from the turtle in front of me.

"That's my girl," he said as he patted the top of my hair. "Maybe we should go pay a visit to Doctor Grant to see if he needs any further…medical intervention."

"No. I just want to be as far away from him as I can," I shivered as the coldness of the snow was starting to make my teeth chatter. I pulled my hand away from Raphael's to see the whole pile of snow had turned red from my blood.

"You need to get that hand looked at," Leonardo stated simply, seeing the amount of blood.

"Yeah, I can't go to the hospital because word will inevitably get back to my dad about it," a sigh escaped me. He had done enough and I'd rather keep him out of this as well. "I'll just tape it up or something when I get home."

"Here," the red turtle before me unwrapped one of the pieces of fabric that he normally kept secure around his wrist and forearm. He gently took my hand in his and was careful not to move it too much as he secured the bandage around my hand. I swallowed nervously at his gentleness; this was the most interaction he and I had had in the past almost two months combined.

"Maybe Donnie should take her home just to clean it up, make sure it doesn't need stiches or anything," I could hear him say to Leo; the elder brother nodded his head in agreement.

"Sounds good. Ok, so Donnie, you go with Elena back home while we finish our patrol," Leo announced as he stood up from where he had been kneeling, "We'll meet you guys back at the lair afterwards. Ok?"

Wasn't really planning on a trek down into the sewers, but I guess Donnie _would_ be a better option than just pouring alcohol over it at the house and butterfly taping it up. Which of course I didn't have any. I had duct tape though. Yeah, Donnie was a better option.

As Donnie and I began to walk away from the group I laughed as Mikey turned around and gave me the hand signals for _you, me, girl,_ and _talk_. Really? You just had to pretend you had a pair of tits Mikey?

I saw Raphael turn momentarily to look at me as the group began to part, his light green eyes gazing at me intently. And damn if that jolt of electricity didn't make a reappearance again.

Was my body trying to tell me something this time? I had always ignored it before, should I listen to it now? Or would that be yet another mistake?


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"So pretty much I could have done this at my house and not bothered y'all," I said as Donatello gently dabbed at my knuckles with some gauze that had been dipped in alcohol. I sucked in a quick breath at the stinging pain, but held still.

"Well, for starters you're not bothering us," he stated simply as he adjusted his glasses and grabbed another piece of dry gauze. "Secondly this is far different from what you would probably do, which would most likely consist of pouring vodka over it then superglueing it shut."

"Hey, vodka solves life's problems," I pointed out to him as he got quiet, "But wait…superglue would have worked? I was thinking more along the lines of duct tape…"

A small smile formed on his face though he probably couldn't tell if I was serious or not. He reached over and slathered some ointment on the gash before closing it with a few pieces of butterfly tape.

My eyes traveled along the lab looking at all the various pieces of equipment and experiments the turtle had going on. The light from his open laptop caught my eye, and I strained to see what was on it.

"Hey, what's over there?" I pointed with my good hand as he secured some wrapping material around my hand and wrist. He glanced over and saw what I was talking about.

"That's something we've been working on for a couple months now," he responded as he looked over my other arm for injuries. "Looks like this one just has some bruising, so not much we can do but just treat for soreness. I'm sorry you had to go through that."

I could see there was a mix of sadness and anger behind the purple turtle's eyes; he was never one for outright violence, instead preferring to think of other possibilities or outcomes. But I had a feeling if I mentioned for the boys to go teach Brad a lesson he'd be at the forefront of the line. Or at least fighting to be at the forefront; I had a feeling the other three would be vying for that position.

So was Raph not mad at me anymore? I was shocked when he had approached me when we were all in the park; I assumed he wouldn't even show his face when the brothers did. But not only did he show himself, but the amount of tenderness he showed made my head swim.

I couldn't think about all this right now and needed a distraction. I put my hand on Donnie's shoulder and he helped me hop down off the exam table to my bare feet, my heels discarded to the corner of the room. The laptop still shone in the background, so I walked over and sat down in the rolling chair that sat in front of it. I could feel the purple brother's presence behind me as I got closer to look at all the reports he had run.

"For the past few months there's been an increase in missing persons reports on average in the city," he reached over and pointed to the listings from the police database; how he got access I wasn't even going to ask. "My programs still don't seem to find a viable connection between all of them, no commonality or anything as to if this is a coincidence or something else."

Glancing out the side of my eyes I saw him pull up another chair next to me, and reached over to pull up a couple different screens with a click of his mouse. "And _here_ is something that has started within the past two weeks, police reports of body parts in the river and other abandoned areas."

"Weird, I haven't see any news reports or anything like that," I mentioned. Granted, I hadn't really been paying attention to the news, but something like pieces of humans being found would be broadcast loud and clear across all media platforms.

"I know, right? And there _isn't_ any news reports on any of this either, I've searched everywhere." He clicked the mouse a couple extra times, and pulled up some pictures for me. "I found this on a fringe website on the internet. Looks like a local might have gotten to the parts before the authorities and posted pictures on his blog."

Well, the pictures he showed me definitely didn't _look_ like human body parts. In the few pictures Donnie had it showed a human looking arm, but it was covered in bumpy skin and had huge razor claws. Another one consisted of a furry foot, while yet another looked like a tentacle of sorts.

"Those were the only ones I could snag before the entire site was deleted," Donnie continued, "I did some more research on this blogger and now all trace of him has vanished. That was three days ago. The only follow ups to the police reports on the parts found is that they were 'animal in nature' and disposed of."

"Seems kind of shady," I mentioned after thinking a moment, "Think someone in the police department is working for who or whatever is doing this and covering everything up?"

"Yep, that's exactly what we think," he sighed as he closed the computer and leaned back, "But without any kind of correlation between missing persons, or even some way to get a sample to compare it to any viable database it's basically been impossible."

I sat back in my chair and rubbed my chin in concentration, "And there's no way from the information you do have like locations and all to backtrack current patterns in the water to try and figure out where they could all be coming from? Maybe they're just being dumped overboard somewhere or from a pier."

He shook his head at my question, "No, there isn't enough data to really get an idea as to where the pieces could have floated from. Especially since some of those areas are big shipping lanes for the port. That and there have been some inland places as well where pieces have been found. Who knows if dumpsters are even being used as well."

Thoughts began rattling through my head and a memory forced its way to the forefront of my head, "You guys think this has anything to do with the equipment Raph and Casey saw that night where I got jumped?"

Silence surrounded the pair of us as he frowned at the memory. "Yeah, that's what prompted this whole thing. We've been wanting to talk with you about that, but you've been kind of distracted lately and we didn't want to start anymore problems."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Not once had I ever been closed off to where they couldn't come talk to me, or so I though. Yeah, things had been tense the past couple of months, but if something was important I thought Leo might have sat down and told me. He hadn't mentioned anything in the couple of training sessions we had had.

"So, what was it everyone wanted to talk about?" I ask hesitantly.

"We have tried to shelter you from the seemingly endless supply of enemies we have had throughout these years Miss Elena," Splinter's voice interrupted the quietness of the lab as he entered. He walked over to our spot by the computers and laid a hand on my shoulder, "It seems that that the time of keeping you in the dark has ended. Your training shall increase in both intensity and technique as soon as possible."

I must have looked puzzled, because Donatello piped in after his father had spoken, "Someone was able to escape the altercation where you were injured. Because of that the purple dragons know you know us, which means you've probably jumped up on their list of enemies and possible hits. We've patrolled more in your area recently and haven't seen anything out of place, but they are good at waiting to strike." I could vaguely hear the front of the lair opening with Mikey laughing about something, it sounded like the rest of the boys had returned home.

Now I could see why they wouldn't want a lot of acquaintances or friends that could be caught in the crossfire. "Well, would it be easier if I skipped town so y'all wouldn't even have to worry about me? One of my ideas for after college was moving to D.C. anyway, so would that solve everything?"

"I do not think that would be wise either at the current moment. Our enemies have reaches beyond this city, and at that distance we could not guarantee any assistance if needed," the elder rat said sadly.

"Wait, what? We're taking a road trip? I'm all for one!" Michelangelo laughed as the three brothers entered the lab, "When we leaving?"

I could even see his father smile at Mikey's happy-go-lucky attitude; it definitely helped sometimes. "I guess not anytime soon. Not until we can start an eighties musical montage and get me all ninjafied and stuff. Leo, I guess since I have a lot more time on my hands we can start my training again…maybe even tomorrow after I visit my parents?"

The eldest turtle nodded, "we'll have to take it easy on that one hand, but we can make some adjustments to get you started in earnest again."

"Thanks, and I, uh…" I trailed off, not really knowing how to phrase my apology, "I wanted to say I'm sorry. I haven't been meaning to push y'all to the outskirts of my life recently. I realized what a horrible friend I've been earlier-"

"Elena, we all understand. There's no apology needed," Leo spoke gently, ending my sentence.

"Yeah, but just prepare for payback in the dojo," piped in the orange clad brother, a broad smile on his face.

His smile was infectious, "Sure," I grinned. "I'll deserve every bit of it." I glanced over at the clock on Donnie's wall and realized it was after one. I had promised my parents I'd be over in the morning to open presents with Anya and her boyfriend, so I needed to get home to get any sort of sleep after the night I'd had.

"Thanks for the patch work again, Donnie," I moved to stand up and faced everyone, "I need to get going back to the apartment. Family gathering in the morning, then I can be by to start training."

A deep voice from the back began, and I turned to see it was Raph, "C'mon, I'll walk with you back to your place."

Well, I guess it was safe to say he didn't hate me anymore. He exited the lab as I nodded in agreement before following him to gather my coat and purse. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mikey give me a thumbs up sign, causing me to roll my eyes and flick him off.

I was able to get my coat on without too much difficulty, but instead of buttoning it I just held it close against me with my arms. I doubted I'd even be able to button much of anything for the next day once the pain pill Donnie gave me wore off. At least I was good about not getting blood all over it.

The pair of us walked silently through the sewers towards my apartment. Under the ground was especially chilly in the winter, even with the protection from the wind. I had to pull my coat together tightly to drown out some of the chill, but felt the shiver set deep within me.

Before I even noticed him moving, I felt Raphael's strong arm pull me close to him. I looked up but he's not looking down at me, rather straight ahead. Nonetheless, he was warmer than my surroundings, so I gratefully leaned my head against his side as we walked silently back to my apartment.

He helped me up through the manhole cover, and before I could do anything else picked me up gently and leapt up the fire escapes to my balcony. I grabbed onto his arm to steady myself as he sat me down, and quickly typed the code on the outdoor keypad to open the doors to my wonderfully warm home.

I turned around as I heard a quick _okay bye_ and saw he had turned around to leap back down to the ground, "Raph, wait." He stopped and looked over at me questioningly. "I, uh…come in for a second, will ya?"

The look of hesitation ran across his face, but he finally gave into his inner demons and followed me inside, closing the balcony doors behind him.

I walked silently to the front of the apartment to hang up my coat and saw the large turtle standing awkwardly in the living room near where the hallway branched off to the bedrooms. Taking off my heels I moaned slightly as my feet feel wonderful and _flat_ on the wooden floor again. Why those torture devices were _ever_ created we'll never know.

"Do you want something to drink?" I asked quietly, not really knowing what the hell I was doing. I hadn't thought this far ahead when my damn mouth went off and asked him inside. He shook his head as he looked around the apartment, everywhere but me.

"Look, I…" I stammered at first. Elena, dude. Just woman up. Fine, I'll just come out with it. "I fucked up and want to apologize."

His eye ridges raised slightly at the change in tone I had suddenly taken, as he had apparently not expected it. "How so?"

"I'm a bitch…I've been a bitch these last few weeks, and…and," I raked my fingers across my face in frustration. It was now or never, "I've lied to you."

I looked over to him and noticed his stance had changed. He was no longer feeling hesitant and awkward, but had broadened his legs and shoulders, folding his arms across his chest. Great, I'm fucking it up more and he's going to shut me out.

"When, when we uh…kissed on Halloween. I lied to you about it being a mistake, and I haven't been able to do much _but_ think about it."

His eye ridges raised in shock; I had apparently taken him by surprise. "I liked it, like _really_ liked it, and I thought you might have as well, but…I don't know why I said we should forget it since I've been beating myself up every single day for doing that to you."

His silence was starting to unravel my nerves even further and I found myself rambling as I fiddled with the edge of my bandage, "Like I get we never really got along when we were younger, and I always just assumed you hated me, but when I came back after all these years we started opening up to each other and I found I liked it a lot when you were around."

Silence settled heavily in the room as I tried to interpret the turtle's face, damn his poker face was good. He finally broke the silence after a moment, "So, what about Mr. Wonderful?"

My eyebrows knit together in anger, "You mean the worse mistake in my life? Yeah, well apparently he thought he was going to use me to climb the ladder at the hospital, but since I didn't just bend over and listen to his every whim like a good, little, rich housewife would he thought he would teach me a lesson."

I snorted as I remember the satisfaction at hearing his nose crunch under my fist, "I guess I taught _him_ one instead."

"Well, you're not very good at listening to orders…we already knew that," the bluntness of his statement drew my eyes up, but I saw he was smirking a little.

"Look, I should have stopped it after our first date or so. The little voice in my head screamed that something was wrong with him, but I've had such fucked up relationships before him I just thought I was being overcautious," I tapped the side of my head with a little emphasis. "Little did I know the bitch in there was right."

A moment passed before his voice took on the serious tone again, "What does the little voice say about me?"

I felt myself walking over to the large turtle, tilting my neck back to look up at him. His arms opened and I moved forward to lean into his plastron, his arms wrapping around me securely. I leaned my head against the hard surface, but relished how it was smooth against my cheek.

"She thinks that we're both truly fucked up, and that between the two of us we probably have enough emotional baggage to fill a 747 jet. But yet we make an amazing team, so why not combine forces and take over the world."

The rumble of his chuckle shook me slightly, and I smiled that he was no longer angry. I felt him lean his head down to rest it on my head. This felt good. Right.

"So now we're going to be some sort of supervillain duo? Kind of goes against my whole 'crime fighting' schtick I've been doing for years. But we'd have to get an evil white cat…and you know I hate cats."

We both genuinely laughed at his joke, and I leaned my head back to look up at him. His green eyes met my gray ones, and we stayed like that for a moment.

"You know this will never be 'normal', you being a chick and me being…well, me. It's all sorts of fucked before we even begin," he stated quietly, giving me a last ditch out if I chose.

"Eh, normal's boring…who'd want that?" I said with a small smile.

The corners of his mouth raised in response as his hands moved from my back to the sides of my face, bringing our mouths together. Just as it did last time, electricity shot through from my face, down my spine, and into my toes. I reached up to intertwine my fingers into his, rubbing my thumbs across the firmer flesh on his hands.

This was where I was meant to be, here with his arms around me, safe and warm. Our lips and tongues mingled together as one entity, until we both had to finally come up for air. He reached down and pressed his forehead down to mine, just looking into my eyes for what seemed like forever.

"You are going to be so tired at your parents' house, ya know," he laughed quietly to himself after a few minutes. I groaned as I saw the clock say it was half past two; I had to be up in a few hours to get on the subway to go to my parents'.

"Whatever, at least you can go home and sleep in for awhile," I pulled back unwillingly and poked him in the arm.

"Not if I have to think of an appropriate training schedule for you now. Especially since you said you'll 'deserve every bit of payback' in the dojo. That's a challenge right there, ya know." It was so good to see a smile back on his face; I truly had missed it these past few months.

He walked with me back to my room so he could get back to the sewers, "So when you think you'll be showing up today?"

"Early afternoon, maybe earlier if Anya starts up any bullshit. I'll be out faster than Mikey trying to get out of his chores," I smiled at the memory of the turtle when we were younger.

Raphael also smiled at the memory before nodding. "Well, let me be the first to tell you Merry Christmas then," he said before leaning towards me once again to place a gentle kiss against my cheek.

"Same to you, Raph, same to you. I'll see you soon, ok?" He nodded and opened the doors so he could walk out onto the balcony.

"Not soon enough," he smirked as he jumped over the railing and disappeared into the darkness below. I walked out into the cold night air, ignoring my body as it instantly started shivering in response, just so I could get a glimpse of his form jumping down through the manhole cover.

Three words. Best. Christmas. Ever.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The most awesome thing about Christmas morning is that you can wear practically whatever you wanted and no one will bat an eye at you. That's how I found myself in the subway at the moment. I had my gym bag with me, with a spare change of clothes for after my training session, but I had to admit I looked kind of ridiculous. My parents thought it would be funny to buy their grown ass adult children Christmas pajamas and have us put them on while we opened gifts. I think it was more to satisfy their sick humor, but I was a good daughter and played along.

They had even gotten a pair for Anya's boyfriend Trevor, who was pretty awesome in my book. He was a wonderful tattoo artist, and we spent much of the morning conversing over the pieces he had on his own body and what they meant to him. He was a very down to earth guy and followed what his heart wanted him to do; I could see why my sister was so enthralled with him.

I think after being around him more my parents could also see that their daughter was truly happy and finally began to back off their quest to find a more 'suitable' guy for her. Which was ironic considering how hard they had tried to get me married off. Maybe the realized she was a lost cause to their overall 'look'. Every family had to have a black sheep, right? At least that's what the tabloids always tried to say.

My dad began to ask me about Brad, but stopped the moment the scowl formed on my face. He wasn't stupid, and could see that my look meant things weren't going very well. Good thing I wore long sleeves so he couldn't see the bruises that were now pretty ugly on my forearm. He had questioned the bandages on my right hand, but seemed satisfied with my claim that I had cut it accidentally while I was cooking. I made up some lame story about how I was cutting something in the kitchen and goofing around to the radio and hit my knuckles. I was surprised he actually believed that story, though I could tell my sister didn't; her deep brown eyes bored straight through it and I saw her lips set in a straight line.

She and I had been decently close as we grew up, and we could tell when one was lying. Hell, we would even concoct lies together to stop ourselves from getting into trouble. She always pestered me about my mysterious 'friends' I would spend so much time with, but I always just attributed it to her being the annoying younger sister.

So we sat around the Christmas tree in our ridiculous pajamas and opened gifts a few hours after I had actually gotten to sleep. The caffeine from the coffee I had sipped on and the memories of just a few hours ago kept me awake, otherwise I might have just curled up into a little ball and slept under the tree.

Mom and dad had gotten me a plane ticket voucher for a flight wherever in the world I'd want to go. I was shocked because they had both been _against_ me traveling the world, citing it being too dangerous for a daughter of a congressman to be backpacking by herself in foreign countries. My mom stated simply that she knew I had grown up, and it was what I loved, so they wanted me to keep exploring which is what made me happy. That, and if I decided to branch out looking for suitable work I'd need a ticket to wherever I needed. Man, who knew a few years and their kids growing up would change their minds so radically.

Anya had purchased some pretty awesome rock albums as a digital download and helped me load them to my account, so I could play them on my phone whenever I wanted. These would definitely come in handy when I worked out. I had mentioned to her I had been working out more since I had returned home, so she also bought me a pair of wireless headphones that were sweatproof; also a win in my book. Trevor had offered to do any tattoo I wanted free of charge. I had never thought about getting one before, but an idea popped in my head when he offered, so we set a time in the next few days for me to come and swing by his studio.

We had an awesome breakfast after that, full of anything and everything. I hoped upon hope I had fully digested everything before I got to the lair. It had only been an hour since I had eaten, and I could still feel my full belly sloshing around with each turn and bump the subway took. I happily tuned out everything and everyone as I rode on the silver tube, listening to the music my sister had gotten me. We hadn't hung out in awhile, so had agreed to meet up for lunch the same day I was to swing by Trevor's studio. She needed to get the next section on her sleeve filled in anyway, so we'd just go together after we ate.

My stop came up, and I hopped off the subway. The manhole that I could use wasn't too terribly far from the station's exit, but it was cold outside, so I shrugged my extra hoodie on. Thankfully I remembered to wear some long johns under my sweat pants that I traded for the pajamas I was wearing, so at least I wouldn't literally freeze my ass off as I ran to the manhole.

As expected once I got below the surface the temperature dropped, so I hurried as fast as I could towards the lair. I think I reached it in record time, but did a double take when, next to the secret pipe you had to pull to open the door, hung a wreath.

A wreath? In the sewer? My eyebrows raised a bit with confusion as I lightly pulled the pipe, and the large section of wall shifted out of my way.

"Merry Christmas!" I heard everyone shout from inside. I was truly shocked, as the boys had never decorated the lair for Christmas before, and I had been down here quite a few times on this holiday. They did a great job, the small Christmas tree had baubles and lights hanging from its branches, and there was even an electric fake fireplace against one of the walls.

"Hey guys! Same to you," I laughed happily as I made my way into the lair. I tossed my gym bag on one of the available chairs and made my way into the kitchen where everyone had sat around the table.

"What's the special occasion? Y'all have never decorated for the holidays before," Mikey brought me over a cup of hot earl grey tea which my cold fingers eagerly accepted.

"True, but one of our favorite chicks finally came back after almost a decade," Mikey said as he passed me a small thing of cream and sugar; he remembered how I liked to fix my tea. "So we figured this holiday it would be fun!"

A smile erupted across my face as I realized he was in full chef regalia. He noticed and showed off, "Like it? I've got the turkey and ham in the oven right now…got most everything else ready to go once they come out."

"Wait…you guys are cooking a Christmas _dinner_ too?"

"Well, technically Mikey's doing everything," Donatello piped in, "If any of us tried to help it'd be most definitely on the crispier side."

"Casey and April are coming by later to join us all for dinner," Raphael also pointed out. I was glad; I had only met April a few times on video chat over the past couple years and was excited to meet her in person. "But first…" he trailed off as he stood up and walked me over to the living room couch to sit down with him next to me, "you've got some presents to open."

Wait, what? I had Christmas presents to open? "Oh, my god guys, you didn't have to get me anything…"

Mikey came bounding over and grabbed a small box from under the tree before shoving it in my lap, "Here! Mine first! You can even use it today too…" The remaining turtles and their father filtered over towards the tree and watched as I began opening the box in my lap.

I snickered when I saw the tea infuser that was shaped in a, you guessed it, box turtle. Its shell lifted up so you could put loose tea leaves inside, and had a small chain attached that you could latch to the side of your cup.

"Now you could say we're close enough that you could just drink me in," he joked but stopped for a split second after he saw his brother's face next to me, "buuuuuuuut that also sounds super creepy too…"

The other gifts were equally as awesome. Leonardo felt I was getting better with my kunai training, even over the last sporadic sessions, and found me a couple of thigh holsters that could sheathe 6 blades each. Mikey's words to that were along the lines of _she'll be a freaking machine gun of knives_! Donatello found an older leather-bound set of the Lord of the Rings novels that were among the top of both our lists of favorite books. We had talked shortly after I got back from overseas that my copies had been read so much they were falling apart.

Raphael had a helmet specially made for me, the designs on mine mimicked the ones that I remembered his had; I smiled at the mental image with both of us riding his motorcycle. Splinter painted a small framed picture to hang on my wall in my spare room. It was just a simple kanji with one word emblazoned on it: family.

"Thank you all," I said with slight tears in my eyes, "you guys are really a second family to me, every single one of you, and I love any chance I get to spend with y'all."

"If I may speak for all of us, Miss Elena," the wise old rat spoke up, "my sons and I also see you as part of our family, and as such will do anything necessary to keep its members safe and whole." I nodded and put my hands together slightly to bow my head towards him in respect; he repeated the motion back towards myself.

The orange brother jumped up from the tree and hurried back into the kitchen to switch out his dishes while everyone relaxed. I leaned back into Raph's arm that had been draped on the back of the couch for most of the time we had been sitting. The television was playing some sort of holiday program so I pulled my legs up under me and nestled into his large form. I could tell he was still a little new to the whole idea of him and I, but after a minute he relaxed next to me.

"When did you want to train?" I asked to Leo and Raph during a commercial break; Donnie had wandered back to his lab to tinker with a device he wanted to show me later.

"Well," Raph began, "We were totally planning on putting you through the ringer today since you gave us a challenge." He pointed one finger over at his eldest brother, "But thank that one over there for sparing you. Said with it being a _holiday_ and all that you deserved a reprieve." I could see Leo smiling at his brother's jab.

"Thanks Leo, I appreciate it. Though I'm surprised you agreed so easily to not letting him bust my balls…"

"Well, _that_ would awkward if a hot chick like you had balls!" a gruff macho voice came from the front hallway.

Ah, Casey…ever the gentleman.

I got up to meet the pair as he and April entered the lair, laden down with bags of groceries of their own, that they placed on the table. He proudly pulled out a bottle of off white liquid and set it on the table.

"You up for some homemade eggnog? Made personally by yours truly," the scruffy male boasted as he dodged around Mikey and grabbed some glasses from the cabinet.

"Sure," I laughed as he poured a glass for me, "Captain Morgan and I go way back; he and I have some stories that will never be told." We clinked our glasses in cheers and I took a sip. Quite yummy. The man had talent.

April laughed at the interaction between the two of us and came around to give me a big hug. "It's been a long time there, kiddo." She held me at arm's length for a second as she gave me a look. "It's nice to finally see you on something other than a computer screen!"

"Yeah," I laughed as I took another sip, feeling the warmth spread through my throat and stomach, "Your man over there had to roll his tongue up when we first met the other month."

"Yeah, that's my Casey. That doesn't really surprise me," she joined me in my laughter. It was good to have another female down here to be around. "He's all bark though and no bite."

"Hey, if you're good later I'll show you how I bite!" we heard from over by the television; the vigilante had already plopped himself on the couch to hang out with Leo and Raph. The redhead cocked her head at me with a look that said _see_. It was hard not to giggle.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Donatello attempting to get my attention from his lab. I excused myself and walked over to meet him at his computer.

"Hey, what's up?" I thumped him lightly on the shell as I walked around to the front of whatever he was doing. He had his goggles down over his glasses, hovering over something super tiny that I almost didn't see it.

"Ooooooo," I pulled up a stool next to his workstation and peered closely at what he was doing. He must have a magnifying glass in those goggles because I couldn't even make out what he was doing to the small piece of metal being held by tweezers.

"Don't touch!" he reached over with one of his hands and batted away my own inquisitive ones. He returned to the tiny project, making one more adjustment with his tools before sitting back and placing his goggles back on top of his head.

"There, done…" he said as he looked over at me. " _Now_ you can come closer and look at it.

"Sooooo, what exactly am I looking at?" I cocked my head to the side and looked at the purple clad turtle

"A subcutaneous tracking device, I've been trying to develop one that we could insert into each other in case anything were to ever…um, happen to us," he motioned with his head towards the living room at Raph, " _some_ of us still go out on our own without telling anyone else whether it be to vent anger or something else, and there's been times where said turtle has come back with rather nasty damages to himself."

I glanced back to the living room and could see everyone enjoying their time with one another; I had no idea he was still going out on patrols by himself or cavorting with Casey to mess with any purple dragon plans in the city. Maybe he and I should have a talk about that later.

"Does he know you have been working on this? I'm sure if Leo told him both of them would still be fighting in the dojo about it."

Donnie smirked as I read if I could read his mind, "That's precisely _why_ I haven't mentioned it to him. Actually, Leo doesn't know about it either, and Mikey would leak faster than water in a colander. Which is why I wanted your help."

I raised my eyebrow in suspicion. He wasn't one to keep secrets from his brothers, but it made sense with something like this. If Raphael got wind of this he'd most likely shut the project down before it'd even get off the ground.

"What exactly would you want me to do?"

"It's quite simple. I'd have you inject me with this," he pointed to the small piece of metal that he had just tinkered with, "and then if you could take this device with you and let me know what you see on our next patrol I can get an idea if I need to make any adjustments to its GPS component."

I leaned back in my chair and stretched my legs before chuckling lightly, "You only trust me to inject you with something because the other guys will probably miss and stab your liver or something."

He nodded his head, "Yes, even though it's a simple injection into the forearm, with those three getting stabbed in the liver would still be a large possibility."

"How about this," a thought had come into my head, "why don't you just inject _me_ with it? It'd be super easy for you to keep track of where I go, and I go a lot more places that y'all do, including inside buildings and such."

He hadn't thought of that, and he rubbed his chin in deep thought, "That actually might work better. Most of our escapades don't involve any multi-floored buildings, so that may help. And we could even have you take a couple different paths out of the lair just to make sure the specs work underground as well."

I could always tell when Donnie got excited about experiments; it was like watching a kid rip open presents on Christmas, which was humorous considering what day it was. "Are you sure you wouldn't mind?" he asked hesitantly.

"Sure, it's no problem," I replied as I laid my right arm out on the table, "Here you can even do it on this arm since it's already being covered by the bandages from my knuckles. No one will even know anything happened." The device didn't look very big at all, so at least it wouldn't be a gargantuan needle or anything.

The turtle jumped up and began prepping the procedure, which literally took all of a minute or so to complete. It hurt, because he had to inject it right into the meaty part of my forearm, but I knew it would go away shortly. He excitedly grabbed one of his laptops and wheeled it over to me so I could see too.

"See this?" he pointed at a blinking green dot on the map, "It's picking you up right now, with even precise calculations as to how far underground you are. Let me try something," he plinked a few keys on the board before an elaborate map popped up on the screen.

"I can pick a point and actually have a path generated using the data it pings out so in case you _are_ underground, which you are right now, it can show us a way to get to you, using the most current information that's loaded into here from the city's public works. You'd be surprised how much of the sewers we haven't even explored yet."

"Well, so long as you don't kidnap me and throw me in some random hole under the city I think we'll be fine," I chuckled at his excitement. "And Merry Christmas, here's my present to you. I'm a walking guinea pig."

He put his arm around me in a small hug, "Please keep this from everyone else? Until we can ensure them that it's correct and functional they'll just laugh at me and make more Skynet jokes." I nodded in agreement; I had seen many of those banters back and forth when we were younger.

We both heard the dinner bell that was Mikey's yells from the kitchen. "I'll even text you a log everyday of where I've been and approximate times, because if I don't I know I won't remember."

"Awesome, thanks again Elena, I really appreciate the help."

I hugged him lightly again, "No problem, Donnie. Now, are you ready for some food?"

Dinner was delicious, Mikey had really outdone himself. Between the massive amount of food, _again_ , and the warmth of the eggnog flooding my belly I was content as everyone finally congregated in the living room for a digest-and-chill session. I was once again on the couch with my legs curled up underneath me as I leaned against the arm with a pillow, Raph sitting on the floor below me, though he was almost tall enough to match my height. April and Casey shared the couch with me, while Splinter rested in an armchair and the other brothers congregated on the floor or dinner chairs that had been pulled into the area.

I absentmindedly played with the back of his bandana as everyone talked with each other. It was kind of weird at first though, but I guess the rum in my stomach made me ballsy and decide to play with the tails of the red fabric. He had stiffened at first at the touch, apparently getting used to being near me so much, but he quickly relaxed as his friends and family bantered back and forth.

My thoughts tuned everyone else out as I contemplated us. Never in a million years would someone convince me that I'd have feelings for a mutant turtle, specifically _this_ hot-headed asshole, but here we were. And I was happy, for once in my life. The past few weeks I had felt that something had been missing, and I realized now that the quarrel he and I had was the reason for that emptiness.

A small smile crept across my face as I leaned into the pillow a little more. I don't know what I was going to do now, since my original plan had been to take a year off to decide what to do next with my career. I had, at the time, decided it would most likely be moving out of the city onto some grand adventure, but I don't know how that would be possible if we were still together. There were plenty of opportunities here that I could use my qualifications for, so there was that at least. But I still had plenty of time to ponder all of that; I had only been back a couple months and had enough resources to put off making a final decision for awhile.

Even though I didn't want to base any of my decisions of whether to stay or go on a person, my chest pulled tight at the idea of leaving my second family again. They each contributed to a different part of my personality and maybe because I had been apart from them for so long was the reason I had been unhappy for these past years.

I shook my head at the thought, not wanting to blemish the happy memory that was forming around me. Everyone around me was happy and laughing with one another, and in this moment, so was I.

It wasn't until hours later that I vaguely registered a strong pair of arms had lifted me from the couch and carried me to my bed, a warm set of lips upon my forehead before I nodded off back to sleep.

Again…Best. Christmas. Ever.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"I _knew_ you were lying, and I can't believe dad actually believed your lame ass story!" The young blonde took the last mouthful of her burger before sipping on her beer. It had been a couple weeks after Christmas and I was excited about finally going to get lunch with my sister. "I guess if you jacked his face up enough that asshole would either need a couple weeks off of work or he just didn't let dad see him while he's up there."

I stared down at the plate of leafy greens before taking a bite, "Yeah, I couldn't care less what he does now truthfully. Dad knows better than to ask or tell me anything about him. But either way I wasn't going to just roll over like a little bitch."

Anya nodded her head as she popped another fry in her mouth, "And good for you. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life. We're not just some kind of property for someone to flaunt around. I think mom and dad are just so ingrained in _those_ kinds of people it was hard for them to see anything else. I mean, I love Nathaniel's wife, but she just kind of fits their profile, ya know?"

I laughed at her assessment. I had also thought for many years that Susan was the Stepford wife type, but never really said anything. "He just wants to follow along after mom and dad. I guess you and I are just the anti-establishment rebellious heathens everyone warns the public about." She laughed along with me and reached over the table to give me a high five.

"I'm just glad they finally laid off of Trev for you," I mentioned as I took a swig of my own beer. "He seems like a pretty awesome guy and you two mesh pretty well."

Anya smiled genuinely and began to go on and on about how they met and started falling for each other; it was a really cute story. Something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention, but when I turned my head briefly to look and see what it was it must have disappeared. Weird.

"Hello?" my sis said, snapping her fingers at my face, "Earth to Elena. What is it?"

I shook my head a bit, as if to clear a weird feeling that began to crawl up my spine, "Um…It's nothing. Just thought I saw something I guess. False alarm though…"

She flagged the waiter down so we could both handle our checks and we linked arms as we walked down the sidewalk towards Trevor's studio Rat-a-Tat-Tat. The uneasy feeling had returned and I couldn't quite shake it, but I kept an eye open for anything out of the ordinary.

"So, who's the new guy?" Anya's voice asked in mid conversation. She laughed at me as I was barely able to catch myself from falling over on my face.

"You really thought I couldn't tell? Seriously?" she poked me in the arm, "Man, and I thought we were _sisters_."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I stated simply as I continued walking, now faster, to the last intersection before reaching the studio. Maybe once we got there she'd be too excited about her tattoo being filled in that she'll have forgotten our conversation.

"Oh, no, no, no," I heard her come up behind me and tug on my arm a little, slowing me down some. "Look, you don't have to tell me anything about him _yet_. I know you just went through some shit with Dickford, and I'm glad you're rid of his ass." We both stopped as she stared hard into my eyes. "I'm just glad to see you _happy_ for once. Even if you keep denying he exists. You know you'll tell me eventually. Kind of reminds me of how you used to keep that group of friends a secret back when we were kids…" She flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned the last corner to reach the shop.

How I _wish_ I could tell her…I really did. But it was safer for her and everyone else that wasn't directly involved with the turtles to keep unaware of their existence.

The visible part of shop itself was small, but very clean and tidy when you first walked in. It was just a simple space for him and one other tattoo artist, with room for a receptionist up front. Anya ran up to Trevor and gave him a big hug and kiss in greeting; the smile on his face alone showed just how much he loved her. I smiled sadly at the thought that I would never be able to introduce Raph to anyone in my family; they'd just never understand.

Trevor greeted me with a warm hug as well, and showed me around the small space. They had hired a contractor to begin work converting some extra space in the back into separate rooms so he could expand and hire a couple other artists. I was impressed with the amount of business knowledge and knowhow he had; he really had put a lot of thought into his business model and I could see it flourishing once he got everything rolling.

"Glad you two came in today. I was planning on doing yours first before I work on filling Anya's sleeve. Anything specific in mind?" the tall man asked as we made our way back to the front of the studio. He retrieved a few books from the bookcase that showcased his work and handed them to me so I could look through them. I had a vague idea on what I'd like, but wanted to see if he had anything similar to the image that was floating around in my head.

I sat down on the nearby couch and flipped through the portfolios. Aha, he did have experience with Japanese scripts. I held the page open and walked back over to where he and my sister were conversing lightly while I was choosing.

"This one, right here," I wasn't going to need any alterations to that part of the image at least; it was pretty straightforward. Keeping my finger in the binding of the book as I quickly flipped through the rest of the images I found the other part that had peaked my interest. I pointed to the picture of the animal and tapped on the image, "I want that in the middle of this."

Trevor cocked his head to the side as he looked at the two small images, his artistic mind working to come up with a cohesive design that could satisfy me. He excused himself for just a moment as he grabbed a sketchpad and walked back over to me, drawing on the blank paper for a few minutes.

"Like this?" he said after handing me the sketchpad a few minutes later. I looked down at the image and smiled big; yeah, that's the one I wanted.

I could feel Anya peek around his and my shoulder down at the pad and heard her chuckle softly to yourself, "Still crazy about those things, eh? You would constantly draw them when we were younger."

I playfully slapped her shoulder as her boyfriend went over to trace the tattoo design onto the transfer paper.

"Whatever. Hey Trev, about yay high and yay wide," I indicated with my forefinger and thumb, making a small box in the air.

It didn't take long before he was set up and ready to get to work. He asked me where I wanted to get it done, so I pointed to the fleshy area on my chest right over where my heart sat inside my ribcage.

Now, I wasn't a terribly big fan of needles, but I figured if my sister could have her entire arm, leg, and who knows what else covered it couldn't be that bad, right? I laid back on the reclining chair he brought me over to and decided that now was a _perfect_ time to start practicing the meditation and breathing exercises Leo and Splinter had been starting to teach me this week. Little did I know they could come in so handy now.

I let my mind wander, away from the chair I was laying down on, and sure enough it was all over before I really registered a lot of pain. It was only mildly irritating, and I wanted to scratch at the raw skin, but I stopped as I saw the beautiful job Trevor had done. He put some ointment over the image before putting a small bandage over the area, along with instructions on how to take care of the fresh tattoo over the next few days as it began to heal and peel.

"Thanks so much," I gave him a hug and buttoned my shirt back up to hide the bandage, "It was really cool of you to offer to do this for me."

He smiled in return and then pointed over at Anya, "No problemo, anytime. You never know, you may become addicted to getting them like that one over there."

A laugh escaped my throat and I shook my head, "No, I don't think my mom's heart could take two of us being covered. At least I can hide this one at holidays so she doesn't have an aneurysm."

I waved goodbye to both of them and pulled my jacket close to me as the cold wind from the January air whipped past me as soon as I opened the door. I liked the smell of fresh snow, but then hated the sting of the cold air in my nostrils. The station was a decent walk from Trevor's shop, so I hugged myself closer and walked as fast as I could. I would have run if I didn't care about any hidden patches of ice. But I did, and I didn't want to bust my ass like I have done multiple times in the past.

The cold sank into me as I pulled my coat's hood down further and bunched up my scarf to block some of the wind from my face.

That weird feeling of being watched crept back up my spine, and I swept my eyes back and forth across the road, walkways, and alleyways as I passed them on the way to the station. There was just another block or two to go. At least it was still bright daylight out, around 2 in the afternoon, so the chances of being attacked were pretty slim. But still, if nothing else came out of training with the turtles, my level of paranoia and observational awareness had definitely increased.

Sure enough, as I passed the last alley that laid before the station I saw a bundled up figure step out and call my name.

Ugh…I would almost take an armed robber than his ass right now.

"What do you want, Brad?" I huffed out as I continued walking towards the steps. I at least wanted to get out of the damn wind if I had to endure talking to him. I could see him follow along behind me, gently calling me still, not raising his voice at all.

Finally, after descending a few stairs to reach the first landing, I whirled around to confront him, "What do you _want_ , Brad?" I quietly dipped my hand between my jacket and back, and felt a slight reassurance as the hilts of my four kunai were flush with my back under my shirt. I made a point to carry them around after the Christmas Eve incident with him, feeling slightly safer if I was alone and walking around. Just knowing they were there made me feel better.

I felt no remorse as I saw the look of sadness cross his face, which was still busted up decently. Both of his eyes were still slightly bruised, the green and yellow tint casting a weird glow under his dark skin. He didn't seem to be missing any teeth, sadly, and my hand hurt remembering how it got sliced from those perfect pearly whites. Wish I could have at least chipped or knocked one of them out.

But across his face held no anger, only regret, as he kept his hands in his pockets and didn't dare look up to my face.

"I, uh…I just wanted to apologize to you for how I acted the other week," he stated meekly, "It was wrong of me to talk to you like that and grab you, and I wanted to say I was sorry and to see if there was anything I could do to make us work."

"Sorry? Are you fucking serious? Like _really_ serious?" I laughed at him as I leaned against the tiled wall behind me and folded my arms across my chest, "So after all that shit you yelled at me that night you think a simple _sorry_ will magically fix everything?"

"I admit I was a total dick, and maybe I was just mouthing off because of stress at work and too much wine, I don't know…" he mumbled quickly, "but I haven't been able to sleep thinking about how I hurt you. I miss you Elena."

"Whoa, you're _not_ going to try the whole _I drank too much_ excuse and think that will make everything you said go poof," I waved my hands in the air to exaggerate the _poof_ noise I made. "You made your bed, and now you have to lay in it. There's no way in hell I'd get back together with you in a million years."

His sad eyes narrowed at me as I noticed the anger that bubbled subtly under the surface; he wasn't fooling me. He was totally just thinking he could guilt trip me back into a relationship again.

"Look, I don't have time for this," I leaned forward to push away from the wall and began to descend the stairs once again, "Just leave me the hell alone. Next time I see you hanging around I'll just go to the police and file stalking charges. I doubt the hospital would appreciate that."

"You're in a hurry," he muttered as I moved down a few steps, "It's like you've got someone, or rather some _thing_ to meet. Moved on fast, didn't you?"

My blood ran cold at the statement. Did he know something about the boys? About who they were or where they lived? I slowly turned around to look at him and could see the satisfaction on his face at catching me off guard.

" _What_ did you just say?" I growled out lowly, looking around to see just how many other people were in the area. I couldn't see anyone, which could be good or bad depending on how this went.

"You heard me," he snorted, "Seriously? Didn't take long for your whore legs to go wrap around something else…Pretty disgusting, really. I've learned some pretty interesting things about you recently, Elena, and you don't want to take me too lightly. I'm sure you wouldn't want to ruin poor daddy's career and reputation." He stood up tall and had the audacity to put his hand on his hip like he had some sort of control over me, "Now, I'm a nice guy, so I'll give you this one last chance to come along and do what you're supposed t-."

Before he could even finish his sentence I had stormed up those few steps, grabbed him by his collar, and slammed his body against the wall. I guess he was all bark and no bite since he flinched like I was going to punch him again.

"Look you _bastard_ ," I hissed as I tightened my hold on his collar, putting pressure on his neck. "I swear to God you think what I did to you the other night was bad? Keep fucking with me and you'll see just how bad I can _end_ you if you _EVER_ come near me or anyone I know again." I didn't even give him a chance to respond before kneeing him in the balls, the sound of his sharp coughing fit music to my ears as he fell to the floor.

I spat out another _fuck you_ before walking down the stairwell towards the train. I had originally planned on going home, but now I had to…no, _needed_ to make a detour. I vaguely registered Brad yelling my name and a string of expletives, but the thudding from my raised blood pressure drowned him out.

Even with my earbuds and ignoring everyone on the train I still couldn't calm down; the adrenaline just refused to leave my system. I got off on my stop and made my way to the service entrance that I knew wasn't far from my destination, looking around for any wandering eyes before slipping into the corridor. From there I knew exactly where I was going.

Fifteen minutes later and I pulled on the familiar pipe, opening the front door to the lair. I didn't greet anyone, didn't make any eye contact as I headed towards the dojo. I saw a familiar red bandana begin to exit the dojo, but halt as he saw me approach.

"Move, I need to punch something, _now_."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

I've seen Elena pissed off before, but never _this_ pissed off. She came storming into the lair and damn near pushed me out of the way so she could go into the dojo, saying she just needed to hit something. She snubbed me when I asked her to talk about it; just dropped her purse and coat, then refused to do anything else but attack the punching bag I usually use at the back of the dojo.

I get it, I've had many of those days before where just _hitting_ something makes you feel better, so I let her go for a bit. Her form at least had improved a bit from when she first started, but it still needed work. I could tell her right hand was still sore since she was pulling her punches slightly on it, but after a few minutes I could see it was more than just sore as blood began seeping through the bandages she still covered it with.

"Okay," I called to her as she grunted and growled with every punch, "Hey, Elena, that's enough." Her fists stopped their assault on the bag, but she reached up and grabbed at the top, leaning her body weight against the bag in exhaustion.

I approached her from behind, but I could see in the mirror she saw me approach. Well at least she wouldn't be surprised.

"Why do assholes always follow me?" I heard her quiet voice interrupt the silence in the room.

"Man, doll, just because I tell you to stop don't make me an asshole." I could hear her laugh at one of the new nicknames I'd given her before turning around to look up at me. There were a few tears in her eyes, from what I didn't know, but figured she'd tell me when she wanted. I hated it when people pestered me about 'talking' or 'feelings' so I didn't want to bug her like how Leo would hound me. I reached down with each hand and wiped away the tears that threatened to fall from her gray eyes, like drops of rain from clouds in the sky.

She reached around my waist and pulled me towards her, hugging me tight. I wasn't used to her hugs, but quickly wound my arms around her and lowered my head to rest on top of hers. We stood like that for a few minutes, the silence in the room deafening, before she finally pulled away and moved to brush her hair out of her face. I grabbed her right hand and saw where the blood had seeped through her bandage, "C'mon, let's go patch you up again."

It wasn't anything serious, in truth the cut had almost healed again since she had a habit of opening it constantly during training, but the part that hadn't yet was what had bled through the fabric. Donnie had just thrown me the antibiotic ointment when he saw it was something even my dumb ass could handle, and went back to his computer.

"Wanna talk about it?" I casually mentioned as I dabbed the goo on her wound, wrapping new gauze around her hand. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her other hand clench in anger; maybe she wasn't ready.

"I saw _Brad_ earlier," her voice seethed with anger as she began to speak, "The jerk tried to threaten blackmail and get me to come groveling back to him like it was _my_ fault he was an asshole."

I looked up at her eyes and saw she was trying to contain herself. I could tell she was like me, and had issues sorting through emotions; and when there were more than one trying to vie for attention, like she had going on right now, then it made it hard to focus on anything. It looked like she had mixes of anger, sadness, and fear?

I narrowed my eyes slightly at her reaction; whatever happened between the two of them was pretty severe, "Do I need to make an appointment with your doctor friend?"

"No," she smiled slightly at my small joke, "I kicked him in the balls after slamming him against a wall."

Nice. Any thought of pain on that prick always made me happy. I reached up and gave her a small fist bump to her good hand to cheer her up slightly. It worked for a moment before she spoke again.

"I think he knows about y'all, though I don't know how," she said lowly, in an attempt to speak quietly.

"What are you talking about? What did he say?" I replied to her, snapping my fingers over at Donnie to get his attention and his ass over here.

"He, uh," she stammered, trying to gather her thoughts, but wanting to keep some of it private, "he said I was quick to go see not some _one_ , but some _thing_ and that he had learned a lot about me recently." Nerd boy came over and listened intently to what she was saying, taking in everything.

"And the way he looked at me when he said it…it was like watching a bully hold something over another kid at the playground," she spat out angrily. "He was going to blackmail me or something if I didn't get back together with him, which is when his balls got kicked. I should have just punched him in the face and broke his nose again."

I could feel the frown on my face at what she said he did; I swear if I ever saw him a broken nose would be the _least_ of his worries. Donnie began asking Elena questions about the dickwad, who he could have known or associated with, and possible links to maybe knowing about us. For all we knew he could have just been blowing smoke up her ass in an attempt to screw with her.

She began listing off his work at the hospital with possible ties to her dad, but he didn't know we existed. She also mentioned something about him being a part of a genetics research team with his Uncle Barney; now _that_ peaked our interest.

"What kind of research was he participating in?" I could hear my brother ask as he grabbed one of his laptops from a nearby table. That nerd had who knows how many computers.

She said she didn't really know what all he had going on, because every time she'd ask he'd skirt around the issue. "I'm sorry, Donnie, I had meant to tell you all of this because I thought you might actually be interested in whatever he was doing or even know something about it from all your science magazines and sites and all," I heard her apologize to him. "I just got side tracked every time and forgot to ask you about it…"

"Donatello," came Leo's voice from the doorway. He and Mikey were standing there and apparently had heard all of the info she had just given, "Do you think there's any link to those cases you were researching?"

Nerd boy nodded his head. "That's exactly what I was thinking," he replied as he typed rapidly on the keyboard.

Elena looked around confused at everyone, "What, do you think he's got some sort of connection to those missing people and those body parts?" Now the rest of us were confused, since we didn't think she knew about all of that. Well, everyone was confused but Donnie; looks like we knew who told her.

She stood up and walked around the lab thinking aloud to herself, "So, you think this genetics research is involved with the purple dragons transporting and/or stealing all of that medical equipment. Which may or may not also be involved with people coming up missing more often recently on _top_ of random weird but oddly human body parts being discovered around the city?" It was like a lightbulb went off and she smacked her head repeatedly in frustration. "Well, I can see where all the money he had been getting is coming from. Stupid stupid stupid…"

"Well, chica," Mikey piped in from the doorway, "Had you just dated _me_ from the beginning then none of this would have even happened." I rolled my eyes hard and threw a nearby stapler at his head, even though I knew he'd easily catch it.

"Look, there's no way you could have known he was part of those guys," I pointed out to her. She rolled her eyes and obviously didn't believe me. I stood up and walked over to her, putting my hand on her shoulder, "C'mon Rocky Balboa, let's take a ride to cool you down."

That statement right there seemed to make her happy, as she and I walked out of the lair together towards where the path led us to the garage above us. I had taken her out a couple times since Christmas on the bike and she absolutely loved the feeling of sitting on the back hanging onto me. She invested in some cold weather gear so she wouldn't freeze whenever we went out, and kept it in the garage along with her helmet. Donnie, as a gift to me for the holiday, put seat warmers on the back as well.

We got up to the garage and Elena began putting on her winter gear while I grabbed my trenchcoat and hat; it was starting to get dark outside, and I hated wearing the damn thing, but I still needed it to keep wandering eyes from getting too close. Her shirt shifted a bit as she was about to put on her jacket, and from underneath I could see a bandage.

"What's that?" I pointed at the bandage as I came over to her, wondering if she was ok. I could see her look down in confusion until she saw what I had pointed at.

"Oh, this?" Her face turned red from what seemed like embarrassment as she pulled her arms through the sleeves of her jacket, "Anya's boyfriend Trevor gifted me a tattoo for my Christmas present, so I got it today before that shit with Brad went down."

She unbuttoned the top two buttons to her blouse, which made me squirm in awkwardness; it wasn't enough to show anything, but just enough to move to the side so she could show me. "Wanna see? I was going to wait until it fully healed to show y'all, but I can show you now if you want."

I guess she saw my face and laughed slightly, before pulling the shirt to the side a little, "Trust me, prince charming, you're not going to see anything."

She pulled at the one edge of the bandage and peeled it away slowly. I could see where ointment had been smeared across the top of it, and the image was simple. It was a simple green outline of a turtle, but on its shell stood out the kanji for the word _family_ done in red.

"You guys are all my family, hence the turtle, but I guess I'm a tad partial to the color red now, aren't I? I placed it over my heart because I love all of you guys," she said quietly as she saw me stare down at her. "Figured if I was going to have something permanent on me it better mean something, right?"

I didn't know what to say. I felt honored that she felt me and my brothers along with dad were family to her. Who would want this band of misfits as part of theirs? And her choice of color didn't fly by my head. She carefully covered the marking up with her bandage as she buttoned her shirt and zipped up her jacket, trying to judge my reaction.

A small smile found its way to the corner of my mouth. I reached forward and pulled her into a small hug before planting a kiss on top of her head. I could totally get used to this, though the guys might start picking on me for being _soft_ or something. I didn't care.

"Where d'ya want to go, babe?" I asked her once I pulled away and straddled the bike, popping my helmet on my head. I could feel her light form hop on behind me and wrap her arms on either side of my shell to get a good hold.

"Somewhere where there's not a lot of people, I'm pretty done with them all today." Her voice was muffled a little from her helmet. I might have to get nerd boy to rid up some microphones or something in them.

"Got it, hang on tight," I said a little louder so she could hear as I started the motorcycle. The sound definitely reverberated in the enclosed space, but dropped down a bit as we made our exit into the evening air.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The sun had just set, so I knew a lot of people wouldn't be out and about if they didn't need to, courtesy of the chilly January air in New York. I drove through traffic, not really weaving in and out in case of any unknown ice on the roads, and headed for Prospect Park. It should be pretty empty this time of year, which worked out for both of us right now.

Sure enough, there was no one else at the park when we arrived; had this been the summer the place would have still been packed well after sundown. The bike lifted slightly as Elena hopped off, her weight feeling like nothing compared to my big ass. She shook her hair out after removing her helmet, and looked to where the snowy fields were being shadowed by the trees in the last rays of the setting sun.

If I was a sentimental guy I would have made some sort of sappy comment on its beauty or something. But my attention was on her instead of my surroundings; it had been like that a lot more recently since we 'made up' on Christmas morning. The level of happiness I felt couldn't be measured. This was the first time in my entire life where everything just felt _right_. I didn't always have that overarching feeling of being a monster, or a freak, or anything like that whenever she's around.

And knowing she felt something for me made it that much better.

I rested my helmet on the bike and put on my hat. As much as I just wanted to be me around her, I still needed to hide myself in case there were any wandering eyes.

My hand felt something brush it, and I looked down to see she had come back to me and reached for my hand. Well, mine was a lot bigger than hers was, so it was more like she held onto one of my fingers while I closed her whole hand in mine.

She tugged at me slightly, until I fell in step next to her. We made our way through parts of the park and its many pathways for joggers and other pedestrians. I knew she loved going to Grand Central; she loved going to these kinds of places even when we were younger. And now walking with her I could see kind of why she liked it. It was hard to _not_ relax while we roamed under the trees, our way being lit by the beginnings of the light poles turning on above our heads.

"Thank you for bringing me out here," her small voice interrupted the peaceful silence around us as we walked slowly, "Sometimes punching things solves all of life's problems, other times it's just taking a step back and really seeing what's going on around you." She kind of leaned in to me, so I put my arm around her shoulders so she could get closer.

"There's nothing wrong with punching things, it helps me out a lot whenever I've got problems. Punching Mikey only gets you so far, you know?" I joked a bit with her, trying to lighten the mood up. It worked; a small chuckle came from her.

"Hey now, don't you pick on my little brother or you'll have to answer to me, you hear?" she poked me in the side with her finger.

"I forgot you were the old maid outta all of us," I raised my eye ridge at her.

"By just like a year! It's not my fault y'all are a bunch of youngins! With age comes maturity though…" She ignored my forced protest at her remark as she ran forward to grab a handful of snow and proceed to make a snowball to throw at me.

I easily dodged her attack with the snowball and tried to make one of my own to lob at her, but the one second I had glanced away from was just long enough for her to get a good hit on my head, knocking my hat off.

"Why you little," I muttered as I made a couple and threw them with precision at her, not very hard though. She laughed as she turned her body to block and dodge some of the projectiles, but neglected to take into account she was also at the top of a hill. I leapt forward in an attempt to stop her falling, but misjudged my own footing and slipped on a patch of ice. I pulled her towards me and shielded her as best I could, taking the brunt of the fall as we tumbled down the hill. When we stopped she lay beneath me on the snowy field, my body propped up on my arms to keep my weight off of her. The sound of her laughter echoed throughout the area and was music to my ears.

I looked down and saw her cheeks had turned pink from the cold weather, the lights from the top of the hill sparkled in her eyes. Small puffs of breath escaped her lips as she giggled from our accident, and I smiled down at her glee.

The sound died down as she saw me watching her, and a small smile crossed over her lips as well as we stayed still for a few moments. Her hands had been resting against my plastron but slowly snaked their way up to rest on either side of my face. She gently pulled with her hands to bring my face down to hers, our lips barely brushing each other.

I hesitated slightly, caught up in my own inner demons, "How could you be drawn to something like me?" I said in almost a whisper. I could feel her hold her breath, the momentary warmth gone and being replaced by colder air.

"Not some _thing_ ," she said gently, rubbing her thumbs against my cheek, "Some _one_. And this someone means more than anything to me right now…"

Her lips crushed against mine as we laid there in the snow. I still held myself above her, afraid my weight could crush her, but she lifted her body off of the cold ground and held her body as close to mine as she could.

The sound of a twig snapping dragged my attention from where it'd rather be, and my instincts finally kicked in.

I had been distracted, and because of that I now realized we weren't alone.

Elena hadn't heard the noise, and as much as I wanted to continue what we were doing, I had to pull away from her slightly. "Raphael?" she asked hesitantly.

My eyes scanned our surroundings, and I inwardly groaned as I realized the two of us were totally out in the open, visible from every angle in this large field.

She whispered my name again, and I reached down an arm to wrap around her waist, ready to haul her up in a moment's notice. Whoever had shown up had shown up with a decent number of guys, at least ten that I could sense; who knows how many were hiding where I couldn't.

"Listen," I said quietly to where only she could hear me, "There's a lot of people out there right now. We're going to pretend we don't know they're there, but when I give the signal, I want you to run to the bike and get the hell out of here." I shushed her as she was about to argue with me, "Look, there's no time. Get the bike out of here and use the com system on it to call the others."

I could see the fear in her eyes and smirked in an effort to calm her down, "Hey, don't worry, you hogged my bag all afternoon so I'm in the mood to bust some heads in. I'll keep them off you, so just run."

The look on her face didn't seem satisfied with that assurance, but she nodded slightly nonetheless. I pulled her close and felt her wrap her arms around me as I stood the both of us up. "Just act natural," I quietly reminded her as I kissed the top of her head, playing off our 'obliviousness'. She leaned into me as we walked along the field back towards where I had parked the bike. My eyes darted around and tried to single out where each possible attacker hid; there were too many places. I silently cursed myself out. Had I not been distracted I would have noticed this a _lot_ sooner and could have maybe avoided our situation all together.

We walked as inconspicuously as possible, hurrying our steps in an effort to make it look like we were just cold; I could just see the bike over the hill we came to the top of. Good, at least she wouldn't have that far to go.

My senses kicked in and I whipped out my sais towards Elena's head, stopping it from being hit by a shuriken. A shuriken? These weren't purple dragon goons, but foot clan? Fuck my life right now.

"Go!" I shouted as I blocked her body with mine, feeling more of the ninja stars bounce off the back of my shell. A split second lapsed before she took off from me, running her legs as fast as they could go on the salted path towards the motorcycle. Blades came out of nowhere as I blocked an incoming attack from a katana wielding clan member, the sound of steel on steel rang through the once quiet night.

A dozen or so clan members came from the shadows and surrounded me. I glanced and saw two had blocked Elena from reaching the bike, and I pushed through the ones in front of me, punching and kicking my way through.

She apparently brought her kunai with her, as I saw her throw one accurately to hit the ninja in the throat. If we weren't currently battling foes I would have cheered at her. She whirled around and fought with the lone attacker in front of her. I wanted to reach her, help bash that bastard's skull in, but couldn't as my face met the pavement in a violent thud.

What the fuck? One of them had a chain they used to throw and wrap around my legs, pulling them out from underneath me. Gotta concentrate Raph, can't go down easy now. I reached down and yanked on the chain, pulling the unsuspecting ninja with it, and by grabbing his arm used him as a weapon and whirled him around to knock a few to the ground.

Unwrapping my legs took a second longer than I wanted to admit, but I did the best I could while fending off blows and attacks with their weapons. Holy shit more of them just came out of the woods. What the fuck did they want?

A scream rang through my ears; Elena was screaming my name. I turned to see five guys on her, dragging her towards a van that had screeched to a halt not far from where the bike was. The back doors were open and they were pulling her towards it.

"NO!" I roared as I fought against the swarm of foot clan that had descended upon me. I took the brunt of their attacks, not caring if they came in contact with my shell or limbs.

There were too many of them, too many for one turtle to deal with. And they were taking her. I couldn't let that happen. I stabbed the two nearest me with my sais and pushed through so I could start running towards the van in order to reach her before they could shut the doors. She was still fighting against the five that were dragging her, a couple had large gashes from where she had sliced them.

She kept yelling my name, reaching for me, trying to get away from them. But she had too many of them on her. I wasn't even halfway across the distance to the van before they shut the doors, cutting off the sound of her voice.

"NO! I yelled once again as I raced to the bike, leaving my attackers to run after me.

"FUCK!" I shouted as I got to my bike; those fuckers had slashed one of my tires. There was no way I was going to be able to follow them. I flipped over the bike, using it as cover, and reached up to smash the emergency call button to my brothers.

"Prospect Park! Prospect Park! They took her!" I yelled at whoever answered the call; I couldn't even tell whose voice it was on the com. I tripped one clansman as he tried to run past the bike, grabbing his head and smashing it into the ground below me.

I glanced over the bike and saw most of the dozen and a half clansmen were standing and waiting for me to make an appearance. They were taunting me, knowing that I couldn't follow after the van.

If I had to I would take every single one of their damn asses down and beat the information out of them on where they took her. A low rumbling growl escaped my throat as I yelled and ran into the group of ninja. They quickly surrounded me and sent blow after blow in my direction. I was able to block most of them, but I was one against a lot, and the anger I felt didn't help my concentration any.

I screamed out as my arm was sliced pretty deeply by one lucky bastard, though his luck ran out as I threw one of my sai into his eye socket. One down, who knows how many to go. I fought out at random, my anger making me see red and not focus as I should have. It bit me in the ass as I got dropped to the ground from the repeated blows. There must have still been a dozen guys surrounding me, all punching and kicking me; one blow made me see stars as the boot came down hard on my temple.

I was probably within a minute or so of being knocked out when I heard my brothers come to the rescue; it didn't happen often, but I was damn glad they had my back. I could feel them jump between me and the clansmen, pushing them back and off of me.

Black spots danced in my vision as I tried to stand up; I instead knelt down on one knee and kept my head low to the ground in order for everything to stop spinning. My head throbbed, and I most likely had a concussion, but I didn't care at the moment.

I tried to punch whoever touched me, but it was easily blocked. Donnie's voice buzzed through my head, but it couldn't overshadow the echoes of Elena's screams that still resounded in my skull.

He snapped his fingers at me, and talked to my brothers as he shone a light in my damn eyes.

"Stop…stop fucking around Donnie, we gotta go after her…they took her," I growled out as I tried to stand up again. Fucking balance was off and I had to hold onto Leo who stood next to me.

"Who? Who took her?" D asked as he fished out some sort of geek device from his bag.

"Who do you think!" I pointed to all the clansmen on the ground before grabbing my head, "Are these just some sort of fucking traveling salesmen? Fucking Christ!"

"Hey, hey, hey, you're not going to be any good to her if you pass out," Leo tried to calm me down and stop me from walking, since I wasn't particularly good at either at the moment. He helped me over to the garbage truck that nerd boy had converted to a battle tank of sorts and sat me in the back. Mikey had apparently already moved my bike to fit on the back, so we could get it home and fixed. He was unusually quiet at the moment.

"Ok, so if I triangulate the last known coordinates I can pinpoint her location to within a few feet," Donnie was talking to himself as he pulled himself up to the wall of computers on one side of the truck.

"Wait," Mikey spoke up finally, "You put a _tracker_ on her?"

The typing stopped as he looked around to face all of us, "It's a subcutaneous…" he had begun to explain, but saw the irritated look on my face. "It's…it's a long story, but it'll help us find her."

"Just do it," I growled out irritably, the thumping in my head not going away at all.

He nodded and turned back towards the screens. A few moments went by as the monitors went haywire, with maps and everything flying across each one. "Aaaaaaaand, look, right there," Donnie pointed to the screen. "She's over by Broad and Wall Street. Not too far from here."

"Well what are you waiting for?" I yelled loudly, "Iet's get this shit going!" He jumped at my reaction and hurried up to the front of the truck, starting its engine. The sudden lurch of the vehicle made me have to grab the wall to keep my balance; I felt like I was going to hurl.

"Raph," Leo knelt down in front of me and looked at me in the eye, "Hey, when we get there maybe you should stay in here. You can barely stand as is and you're no good to her or us passed out or dead."

I wanted to punch him in the face, but I knew he'd block it easily. "I told her to run, I told her to get to the bike to get to you guys…Maybe if she stayed by me she'd still be here. I shoulda protected her better..."

"Dude," Mikey piped in, "There's no way with that many guys out there."

"I'm seeing this through, Leo," I growled out. "I told her I'd keep her safe, that it would be all right, and it's not. I'm going in there and will beat every single goddamn person in there until we get her back, even if it kills me."

Mikey leaned forward and put his hand on my shoulder. For once he didn't look like he was joking around. If looks could kill Shredder himself would be on the floor dead. "We'll get her back, Raph. You're not the only one who loves her." I put my hand on his shoulder as well, and I knew at least Mikey knew how I felt about her being torn away from us.

"Hey!" Donnie's voice rang from up front, "It's coming up here on our right…the tracker is going crazy!" he sounded pleased that his tech worked.

Mikey helped me stand and opened the back doors to help me out, even though I could tell Leo would still rather have me stay inside the van.

Donnie came from up front with his device and walked around the vacant sidewalk, looking confused.

"What is it Donnie, I don't like that look," I hissed out, a pain in my head made me hold onto the side of the van.

"Well, the tracker says she should literally be right in front of us. There's no altitude or water level reading on it, so she's not underground or above us as well," nerd boy scratched his head in confusion.

"Uh, hey you guys may want to see this," Leo called out from a few feet ahead of us. I walked as best I could over to where he stood, and held onto his arm as I reached down to pick up what he had pointed out.

It was a tiny plastic cylinder with a metal chip or something inside of it; and it was covered in blood.

"They must have cut it out of her arm and dumped it," Donnie gasped as he turned off the tracker that had gone haywire at being so close to its beacon.

Fuck. We lost her.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

 _"_ _Raphael!"_

The sound of my own scream startled me awake, and I instantly tried to shield my eyes against the glaring bright white lights that shone above me. A frown crossed my face as I realized my hands were strapped down to my sides, as were my feet.

I pulled hesitantly as I blinked against the blinding light fixed above me; the cool metal of the shackles didn't budge at all.

Where the hell was I? How did I get here? Flashes of the fight in the park began filtering through my head as it reached for answers. I had almost reached the bike when two of what I guess were foot clan members jumped in front of me. I easily dispatched of one of them with my kunai to his throat, but I fought hand to hand with the other one. In the fray the tire on the bike got slashed, so that kind of hosed our original plan of me getting the hell out of dodge.

Well shit, at least I could hit the emergency communicator button Raph told me about. That might at least get help here sooner. No matter what I tried, though, I couldn't get close enough to the motorcycle. More of their friends showed up at that point and there was no way I could take on five of them on my own; I tried my hardest though. I know I managed to slice a few of them up, and I really didn't care if they managed to survive or not. I fought tooth and nail to not be pulled into that damn van, but it was in vain. They threw me against the wall and secured me with rope after taking away the last kunai that was strapped to my back.

The van lurched forward and I lost my balance, falling over to the floor. They hauled me up again, and that's when I heard someone say something about scanning me 'because they have that smart one'. Were they talking about Donnie? Did these guys know about the turtles and Splinter?

One of the clan members used a device to scan all over my body before settling on my forearm where Donnie had implanted the tracker device. Shit, I had totally forgot about that thing. Of course the _one_ fucking thing that could save me right now was being discovered right away.

"Cut it out," I heard a nasal voice from up at the front of the van. What? Wait, no!

Pain sliced through my forearm as they used my own goddamn kunai to slice through my skin, then used the tip of the blade to dig around until they found the small metal tube. The doors opened slightly as they tossed the tracker out of the van and slammed the doors shut once more.

I managed to curse at everyone with words that I couldn't guarantee weren't totally made up, but I didn't care at that point. I don't know why someone would grab me, or what the hell they would even want with me, but I wasn't going to make it pleasant for them. After a few minutes of my screaming and bitching I heard that same nasally voice from up front say for them to shut me up.

I had gotten hit with something from behind and went down fast. Never even had a chance.

So here I laid on this cold ass table bolted down like I was some sort of superwoman or something. I tried pulling my arms against the cold restraints again, but had to stop as my right arm began throbbing. I was able to at least glance down and see they had bandaged the arm where the slice had been made; whether or not they stitched it shut or anything was to be determined.

My eyes scanned the room around me, trying to find anything that could help me ascertain where the fuck I was. It was large, like operating room size, with lots of machines against the wall that did who knows what.

Yeah, my dad was a doctor…didn't mean I knew what the hell anything was. I couldn't even tell you what a proper blood pressure should be.

There was one glass wall that led out to a corridor of sorts. I could see across the hallway and saw another room that looked just like mine; except that one had blood _everywhere_. The walls, table, even the ceiling were covered in blood. The shackles on the table over there had been ripped upwards from the metal, the bent and broken pieces sticking up like jagged daggers. There had been some sort of struggle, and judging from how the glass had shattered I could tell where someone had been thrown against the wall.

What. The. Shit. Where the hell _was_ I?

The sound of the door unlocking grabbed my attention, and I instantly narrowed my eyes in anger at who I saw enter.

"Oh, why look, she's awake," the casual sound of Brad's voice filled the room, like I was just another patient he was checking in on.

"What the fuck do you want Dickford," he frowned at the use of my sister's nickname I had heard merely hours prior. Well, I think hours…I couldn't actually say how long I had been here.

"You know," he hissed as he slammed the door shut behind him, "With a mouth like that you won't be able to find any decent guy who would put up with your shit. Where are your manners, little lady?"

Well, not much else I could do right now but piss him off. "Fuck. You." I spat at him.

"Yeah, well, you know I actually was going to try that until you had your little meltdown before Christmas," he went back to his fake doctor persona and walked over to the table. I flinched as he ran a finger down the side of my face lovingly. "I had it all planned out, you know. Everything from first date, to moving in, to wedding. All the way up to where I'd become head doctor at the hospital…"

His eyes narrowed suddenly as he reached back and slapped my face hard enough to make it feel like my head was about to detach from my shoulders. "But no, you had to go and screw everything up for me!"

His scream rang through my head as I tried to regain all of my senses after his slap. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry. Or seeing me in pain. He wasn't going to get off on hurting me.

I stayed silent and watched him reach up to pull at his own hair in loud frustration. This guy was really off his rocker.

He walked over to a side table that held various instruments and syringes. I hadn't noticed it at first because it was just outside my field of vision. I had to bend my neck painfully to even watch him.

Brad grabbed a pair of scissors and began cutting away the buttons on the shirt to expose my belly; I tried to squirm to get him to stop, but couldn't really move away from him.

"You know," he said casually, "Uncle Barney said I could actually take the lead on your case if I wanted; I may even have more success than he had. He said I can have you _all_ to myself now."

"What the fuck are you talking about? What _case_ am I going to be?" I spat out as I wiggled in vain under the scissors. He didn't even do it gently, nicking my skin here and there as he cut away my blouse. He reached down with his hand and traced a finger down my pants starting at my hip down to my toes, before tracing it back up onto my inner thigh and crotch before resting it on my belly button.

He was in some sort of trance as he traced his finger, and I truly could have vomited in disgust at the moment. I felt so violated, but the metal straps prevented me from pulling away. His finger twirled a few times around my belly button as it began its trip up towards my chest, but then I saw his face snap out of his daydream as he saw the bandage from my earlier visit at Trevor's.

Without even saying anything he ripped off the bandage, and the look of anger returned to his face as he saw the fresh design on my skin.

"You really turned into a whore, didn't you," he spat out as he held the scissors close to the skin on my chest, "Really? They branded you? Like you're their property or something?"

"Brad, I don't know who or what you're talking about," I said innocently, "I've always like turtles, so I decided to get a tattoo of one. You know, like _normal_ people do occasionally."

"Stop lying to me!" he yelled as he smacked my face hard again; I swear I was going to get whiplash if he kept doing that. "Uncle told me lots of stories about these _turtles_ , and it seems they are the same one father's always had problems with."

Now I was really confused. From the short time I had really gotten to know Brad…Well, from the time I _thought_ I had gotten to know Brad he never really mentioned his father.

"I should just remove this from you right now…" he tapped the blades next to my tattoo, "You're mine and no one else's, especially when I get my new tech involved…"

I held my breath, afraid that any movement might cause him to snap, and I'd really rather him not do that with two razor sharp metal blades right next to my chest.

Silence surrounded us momentarily as a thought crossed his mind. Thankfully Brad put down the scissors, but he picked up one particular syringe that had a huge needle on it that was filled with some sort of bright orange liquid. I had never seen anything like it before in my life.

He tapped it against his fingers as he looked at me with a hint of cruelty in his eyes, "How about we make a deal? How about you swear to come back to me, I'm giving you one _last_ chance to be where you belong…otherwise I get to make you my pet guinea pig for awhile."

I sneered as he looked at me like I was a piece of meat to him, "Go to hell, Brad. There's no difference…"

"That's where you're right," he leaned in close to my face to whisper, "You're already in hell."

Without a warning he grabbed my face and plunged the needle into my neck.

My eyelids opened to a bright light; the damn blinding light that never goes out. I pulled at my restraints, but knew it would do no good. I was still bolted down to this table like some sort of lab rat. I had lost count of how many days I had been restrained so far; hell, I didn't even know what was day or night anymore, so I know my count was most likely off. The only light I had were the fluorescent bulbs above my head, and they never went off, ever.

I arched my back sorely, and winced in pain as my shoulders and hips twinged with pain. The bed was nowhere what I would call even hospital worthy, more like a glorified gurney with a blanket on it, so the lack of padding put a lot of pressure on my body. I couldn't really stretch nor do much of anything since my wrists and ankles were still bound by the metal shackles bolted down to the bed.

The sound of beeping intruded into my head and I groaned in irritation. After dickwad injected me with whatever that shit was the first time I had passed out from the pain; he just sat and watched with a sick smile the entire time. I guess when I was out time they put in an IV that I couldn't reach or rip out, and connected it to that _damn_ machine. The thing beeped constantly, I'm assuming from monitoring my vitals, but it was so. friggin. annoying.

Between the noise, lights, and constant cold temperature in here I hardly got any sleep at all. No matter how exhausted I was, or how desperately I just wanted to get a ten or fifteen minute nap it never really worked.

Fortunately I hadn't seen much of Brad. He had come in a couple of times to monitor my vitals and give me some more attitude, to which he got even more pissed off when I just gave him lip back. My face felt his wrath on those occasions, and I'm sure my lip was still split from the last time. My dry tongue felt around the area and I grimaced in pain; yep, still split. I tried to make some saliva to maybe wet the area, but I just couldn't make the desert disappear from my mouth.

Speak of the devil, the bastard just walked on in without knocking. He had a clipboard in his hand that held some papers, but I couldn't really see what any of them said. His eyes locked with mine and he smiled like we were old friends.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I wake you?" he said with a slight chuckle.

"Nope, just a regular sleeping beauty over here. In fact, do you have a firmer mattress? This one is too soft and comfortable," I replied calmly. Usually when I showed no emotion it pissed him off more, and I really didn't care what he did to me at this point. I was at the lowest point I had ever felt, and truly had zero fucks to give anymore.

Bingo. I must've gotten under his skin because he narrowed his eyes before walking over to the side table next to me. There had been a glass of water sitting there forever, I could literally _smell_ the water inside the cup, but of course even if I could reach it I couldn't drink the damn thing. Not unless I flipped it from my hand onto my face or something equally likely to fail.

"I don't know about you, but I am especially parched," he chuckled as he took a long sip from the glass. He brought the cup closer to my face, "would you like some?" He slowly dribbled the water on my forehead, making sure the stream of it didn't get anywhere near my mouth. The cool liquid flowed over my forehead, and down my cheeks to soak into my hair and pool under my head.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm so clumsy, I'll make sure to get you another cup to put on your table." He took up the clipboard and looked over at the monitors, taking notes on the papers here and there. I glanced from the corner of my eye and saw some graphs and other measuring tables, but I couldn't read what any of them contained.

"And since you claim you're so well rested, I'll make sure to ensure you don't sleep _too_ much," he reached up to turn the volume up slightly on the damn monitor. If looks could kill he would have been six feet under already. "There, that should help you. Only thing missing is the turndown service and mint on your pillow, eh?"

"Wow Brad, what such good service. You treat all the girls so nice? It's a wonder you don't have a line of women following you around," a snort escaped my nose as I saw his eyebrows twitch in anger. Man, I bet the boys would love to see him so pissed off right now. Though truthfully I think they'd rather see his entire face pounded into the concrete, but that was besides the point. If I had any chance to get out of here, I needed to not give into this asshole. I'm sure they're out there looking for me. With brains like Donnie he should be able to track my sorry ass down soon.

"For you," I recoiled as he ran his finger down my face; I hated when he did that shit. "I've got something particularly nice in store for you…" He reached into his lab coat pocket and pulled out a vial of bright purple liquid and went over to a cabinet to retrieve a syringe.

"What exactly is _that_?" I questioned warily. He had injected me a few times with the orange liquid and each time produced excruciating pain. "What's so different from the other ones?"

"Oh those? Those were just the appetizers," he found a syringe that he could insert the vial into and assembled the two pieces together. "Uncle would just go straight to business, which always turned out to be reckless. Those were just to get your body prepared for the main course."

He walked over and inserted the syringe into IV, but held his hand over the plunger, "One last chance to be happy with me?" Before I could even come up with a reply he laughed and continued talking as he pushed the plunger down, moving the liquid fire into my IV line, "Oh, wait. Nevermind. You're damaged goods now as it is, and I require perfection. No one will want you after this is over, not even me."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

"Sonofabitch!" I yelled in frustration as I threw my helmet to the ground after dismounting my cycle. My brothers and I had just returned from another night of scouting, and _again_ nothing new turned up. No major gang activity, no clan activity, nothing. It's like the city just became fucking crime free overnight.

The sound of the battle truck echoed throughout the garage as they pulled in shortly after me; I ignored a furious Leo as I stormed my way back to the lair.

"Raph! Get back here," I heard him shout. Whatever, he could shout till he couldn't breathe anymore, I didn't want to hear any of his shit. I moved faster to the lair. I needed to get to the dojo and hit something. He apparently had caught up to me and put his hand on my shoulder, "Stop when I'm trying to talk to you!"

Fine, I'll just hit something _now_. I swung my arm around, knowing that he would easily duck it, but he wasn't expecting me to ram his entire body into the side of the sewer tunnel. I could hear him exhale loudly, but didn't care as I punched his sides. He got his bearings and began to fight back, but it was only until I felt Mike and Donnie pull me away from him did I finally let up.

"Leave me alone, Leo, I'm not in the mood right now," I snarled out as I turned back towards the lair once again.

"Well, when _are_ you in the mood?" he spat back, "You've been like this ever since Elena went missing."

"Yeah, four months ago! Four _fucking_ months ago Leo!" I snapped and began coming back at him again, but stopped when I saw all three of them ready to defend themselves if need be. "Did you even realize it's been that long?"

"I have," Donnie piped in rather quietly, "Each and every day."

"So have I," Mikey added irritably. "You know you're not the only one who's worried about her."

Leo came up next to me and hesitantly put his hand on my shoulder as I faced away from them. His hand was light at first, thinking I may swing at him again, but after realizing I wasn't he squeezed it a little harder. "Look, we're all worried about her. But you're not helping anything by getting reckless out there."

I snorted in derision and shrugged him off as I walked off towards the lair once again; I vaguely heard everyone else fall in step behind me. Leo still talked, but I was only half listening. Apparently he didn't appreciate my way of doing things. Since the clan took her, I went back to my original idea of busting as many heads as I could to find any scrap of information on where she could have possibly been taken.

Tonight had been a little dicey, as I had rushed into a fracas between the purple dragons and a smaller rival gang. There wasn't even any crime involved, just two gangs who wanted to fight. I truthfully didn't care what it was they were fighting over, maybe the dragons just wanted to do a pissing contest, but I just wanted to beat as many asses as I could and maybe grab the head honcho of their little group to make him talk.

Well, it didn't work out quite like I had planned and we all had the bumps and bruises to prove it. In the end some punk kid had been in charge and I couldn't get anything out of him; Leo had to prevent me from permanently fusing his skull into a wall.

No one else talked as we got back to the lair. Whatever, they all needed their time and I needed to go hit something. Or lots of things.

"Raphael," dad's voice cut through my yelling as I punched the bag for the millionth time. Great, Leo must've talked to him and tattled on me.

"Yes, father," I replied as I turned to face him. He had silently come in and sat on the tatami mat he preferred and motioned for me to sit next to him. I silently groaned, not wanting to sit still and talk about my _feelings_ , but even my hard head knew not to cross him.

"Whatever it was Leo told you he's blowing it out of proportion, I swear," I murmured as I crossed the room over to the floor, "Yeah, there were a lot more than I thought there were, but they were common thugs…not even like skilled dragon members yet, so we were _fine_."

Dad stroked his beard a few times as he contemplated his words, "Your brother did not come to me at all, but _you_ have shown me who the problem was this evening."

I smacked my forehead; of course I'd be the dumbass who gave myself away.

"My son," dad put his hand on my shoulder, "I know your soul is torn at the moment, like a piece has been ripped away from your core." He let the words sink into me for a moment. "But you needn't be careless in your efforts to find her."

We sat there for a few silent moments. I hadn't thought about it before, but that's _exactly_ what it felt to have her torn from me. It felt like someone dug into my heart without any anesthesia and just ripped out a piece of it.

"Dad, I…" I began hesitantly; I hadn't told anyone about this, "I can't sleep right, dad. All I see is her reaching out to me, wanting me to help save her…but I couldn't get to her dad. I couldn't protect her like I should have. And then when we saw that thing in the morgue…"

I breathed in slowly, not wanting to lose what composure I had remaining. Even before I had healed properly I had snuck out to hit the streets in order to find any possible information; I had called Casey to come help since I knew my brothers would have just tried to stop me. Every time I tried to close my eyes I'd see that same image, hearing her scream my name in desperation, but I couldn't stop them from taking her. I _had_ to get out of the lair and hit the streets; it was the only thing keeping me sane at the moment.

"Raphael," dad's voice echoed in my head again. I looked up to see him looking at me straight in the eyes. "You _will_ find her. I have no doubt she is still alive. Considering who we are dealing with, we would have _definitive_ proof if she wasn't. Do not let the past haunt you, but let hope for the future keep you going."

I nodded my comprehension as we both stood up to exit the dojo. I needed to eat something; Mikey had been harassing me about that lately, even though I had no appetite whatsoever, but maybe I could appease him a bit. Maybe dad was right. I'm going to have to be on my game for when we _do_ find her. I can't go in half-cocked and do something that could get her killed.

I went into the kitchen and saw Mikey grabbing some leftovers out of the fridge; he saw me and grabbed a second plate so he could heat up extra. I sat at the table and watched him; I could tell he hadn't been eating or sleeping well either.

It finally hit me; none of my brothers had been eating or sleeping since she had been taken. I wasn't the only one. I mentally smacked myself for not noticing it sooner. I had just been so busy doing my own thing I hadn't been paying attention to them as much.

"Mikey, I…" I began to talk, but he interrupted me by lifting a finger.

"Dude, I get it, I do. I'd probably be just as big of an asshole as you've been if I was in your position," he laughed slightly as he pushed a plate towards me, "We'll get her back though, ya know?"

I nodded after a moment, dropping back into silence as I ate my food while he heated his up. I guess he figured since I was talking and not yelling for once that I had finally come to the realization on just how much of an ass I had been.

Leo ran into the room and noticed both of us sitting by the kitchen, "Good, you two are together. We may have gotten a hit."

Mikey and I locked eyes for a split second before dropping our meals and running into Donnie's lab. The sounds of his frantic typing could be heard well outside his lab and into the living room. He was balancing the cellphone on his shoulder talking to someone as he typed.

"Ok, so the hospital, are you sure? OK, April, I'll do some deeper scans and see if I can confirm anything. Hopefully it'll point us in the right direction. Let us know if you hear anything else, ok? OK, good, thanks April, it helps a ton. Bye…"

Nerd boy dropped his phone as he went between multiple computers and screens on the wall; he was so focused on his task that he hadn't even heard all of us entering the lab.

"So? What's the word?" I growled slightly, hating to be kept in the dark when he obviously knew something.

"Everyone's here?" he jumped in surprise at the sound of my voice in his lab. "Oh, ok. So here's what I got," Donnie rubbed his tired eyes as he swung one monitor around to us.

"April has been using some of her old news sources to find out anything weird thats been going on with the purple dragons, or even any mentions of clan activity lately. We all know that it's been pretty quiet on all fronts, which is abnormal."

"Anyway," he adjusted his glasses as he went back to point at another monitor which showed a map, "April's sources have been showing an increase in purple dragon _sightings_ over by New York-Presbyterian Hospital. It's odd because it's normally not even in their usual list of meet ups. Word on the street is recruitment exercises are taking place around there."

"Ok, so just an increase in sightings, but what are they doing for their recruitments?" Leo piped in; his arms were crossed and his hand rubbed his chin in thought.

"Well, it differs from my research," Donnie pointed out, "sometimes it's just a massive free-for-all and like the last few who come out on top get recruited. Then there's small petty theft or tasks they may send them on to see if they've got the skills needed."

Another screen popped up with security feed from the hospital's system, "All I've pulled up so far is that they go in through a back door here at nighttime," he pointed to the security feed, "but then I never see any footage showing where they come out from. "

"Isn't that the hospital where Dickford works at?" I pointed out irritably, remembering our past searches. "You said you never found anything weird about it before."

"Yeah, but that was early on right after she…went missing," I could hear the hesitation in his voice. "These videos are only from the past month or two; we had already moved on to other sectors in the city by then."

"So you're saying the hospital is eating people. That's super creepy dude," Mikey piped in with his wisdom. I sighed as I backhanded his head and ignored his cry out. "Hey! Stephen King wrote a book like that though!"

"Is there any _other_ weird things going on with the hospital?" the question came from where Leo stood.

"That's what I was doing when you guys came in here, one second," Donnie went back to typing on one of his many keyboards. Different maps and readings began popping up randomly on all of the screens and he took a moment to interpret the flood of information.

"Oh wow, now that's kind of odd," he said more to himself as he read the screens. I came forward and looked at the screens, but couldn't even tell what the hell we were looking at.

"Ok, so this is kind of an anomaly. See, the hospital is undergoing a large renovation in this wing here," he pointed to a section of the building on one of the maps. "So it's pretty normal to see a large use of electricity there during the daytime because of all the activity and all going on. See I decided to run a scan of all the power grids and usage to see if anything stuck out, and when I included the hospital I just analyzed it as a _whole_ , not specific sections, you see?"

His fingers clicked over the keys some more until a few more zoomed in pictures of blueprints showed up on nearby screens. How the hell he could focus with all this shit I could never tell, but if it got us one step closer to finding her I'd pick on him about it later.

"So, in general a hospital uses a ton of power. Makes sense. But _this_ gem just showed up on a wing-by-wing analysis of their energy consumption," his mouse circled a section of the map under the hospital that didn't have any maps or blueprints.

He turned around and stared at all of us before sighing in exasperation at our cluelessness, "My scan picked up that this place is connected to their same power grid, so it's technically tapped into the hospital's power source. There's a lot of energy being used in a section of the hospital that _shouldn't exist_. Really guys? Is this that hard?"

I think it finally clicked for me as I ran through the scenario in my head, "So these dragons are sneaking in, not coming out, and there's a mysterious part of the hospital no one knows about?"

"Precisely," Donnie turned back to the screens as we all ignored Mikey whispering about the hospital eating people still. "Looking at the schematics of the hospital I can plot the most obvious route for them to take once they go in through that back entrance and how to get to this unknown area."

"It makes sense, really," Leo pointed out, "The best place to hide is sometimes in plain sight."

A frenzied beeping began on a monitor off to the right, alerting nerd boy who had rolled over there and leaned close to look at the screen. He read through the information for a few moments before sitting back fast and gasping.

"What?!" I jumped over to look at the screen. It had a ton of records pulled up on it, including one that had Brad's and another guy's photo. "What is it Donnie?"

"So when you guys gave me all that information on Dr. Grant I never really had a chance to dig into his background, but after all of this went down and we came up with nothing I decided to get into his personal records. That guy right there," he pointed to the other man's photo next to Brad's, "He's Brad's uncle, the one that Elena said he was working with on the genetics research."

"Yeah, she said he was like Uncle Barney or some other equally stupid name," Mikey called over from his spot. Both he and Leo had begun to make their way over to the chair that nerd boy sat in. The four of us were pretty big, so it was a bit crowded at the moment.

"Barney Stockman to be precise," Donnie interjected. "As in brother to _Baxter Stockman_."

"Wait, so how is 'Uncle Barney' Brad's uncle then?" I asked, "Baxter never had any kids."

"Never any that took his name," D pointed at a file of Brad's he pulled up, "Looks like he and Brad's mom never got married, so when Brad was born he took on his mom's maiden name. And from the looks of this he didn't really start putting in effort to find his dad until a few years ago. He must've found Barney instead."

"The last anyone reported seeing Dr. Stockman was right around the time of the Kraang invasion. He and Shredder haven't been seen since, and, Donnie," Leo pointed out, "you yourself said you haven't found any information on their whereabouts. Maybe the foot have allied with the dragons now? Has there been any changes to your search for the Shredder?"

"Nope, not a one. I'm assuming Barney must've told Brad everything he knew about us though, which would explain why he would have said some of that stuff to Elena."

"Okay then," I stretched my arms out as I walked away from the crowd and checked for my sais, "Looks like we know where to go, so let's get going."

"Wait, wait, wait, Raph," Leo went over and blocked my exit from the lab, "We can't go up there right now. It's morning now and there are going to be a _ton_ of people at the hospital. We can't just go traipsing around there."

I narrowed my eyes at my older brother, "Are you seriously shitting me right now? The first good lead we've got and you want to _wait_?" I cracked my knuckles as my anger began to rise, "What if she's there right now, what if they're doing stuff to her, you just wanna let her _sit_ there for another 12 hours before we can go in?"

"You _know_ we don't want her in there as much as you do, but we can't go rushing in after a full night of patrols," Leo sighed in exasperation. "It's not going to do her any good to bust in there, _in the middle of the day_ , to the largest hospital in the nation. Do you realize the amount of collateral damage and lives at stake there could be? She might not even be there either; this could be just another piece of the puzzle."

"As much as it pains me to also say this, your brother is correct," dad's voice came in from behind Leo. He moved out of the way so we all could see the older rat. "If indeed the purple dragons and foot are behind her disappearance they will not hesitate to harm those who are innocent."

I wanted to throw things, take Donnie's table and flip it over, just go back into the dojo and pummel that damn dummy to a pile of sand. But I understood what he was getting at.

"Fine," I spat out angrily as I inched my way past dad and out into the common area. I grabbed my plate and shouted over to my brothers as I went into my room, "You bastards _better_ be ready to roll outta here right at sunset, or I'm going on my own."

I knew I needed to eat even though I wasn't hungry, and try to get some sleep even though I was wasn't tired. I was amped and ready to go.

We're coming for you babe, you just gotta hold on a little longer.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The sun had barely settled below the horizon before the four of us had set out in the battle truck. We had no idea what we would find, but if Elena _was_ there then we would have to extract her fast. I couldn't guarantee she'd be in any condition to sit behind me on the bike, so the truck it was.

My nerves were through the roof, and it made me feel even that much more confined in the small space with my brothers. Thankfully none of them decided to question my earlier decision, and sure enough all three of them had met me in the garage right when the sun had begun to set. We parked the truck not too far from the hospital for easy access in case we needed to make a fast getaway, and waited as Donnie ran some final scans around the perimeter of the building.

"OK, so if we go by the patterns that I saw on the security feeds over the past few weeks we shouldn't run into anyone for another couple of hours," Donnie pointed out to us, "The next group of purple dragon recruits usually don't start showing up until near midnight, but there have been other people that will go in and out through this exit."

"Good. So here's the plan," Leo got into his leader mentality, "This is a simple information gathering mission. We get in, look around, leave everything like it is, and get out. Got it?" He looked over at me and saw me frowning at his assessment. "Raph, we don't even know if she's in there. There could be a simple explanation to all of this, and we can't go busting into a very _public_ hospital to turn it upside down."

"I still say the hospital may be eating people," Mikey tried to keep the mood light, but got quiet again when we all looked at him irritably. "What, hey I tried…"

Leo looked back at me, "Are we on the same page?" Ugh, I hated him sometimes.

"Fine, whatever," I responded. I would follow along with his plan for the time being.

"Good, now bring it in," he put his hand out for us to do the same. I swear I felt like I was on a football team sometimes, though I did it to appease everyone. "And if anyone _does_ find Elena all of this turns immediately to an extraction, though I don't think I really need to even say that." All of us nodded before exiting the back of the van.

Nighttime had finally begun to settle in, so keeping to the shadows was child's play as we made our way to the not often used entrance in the rear of the hospital. It looked more of like a simple side door, but there was a large and imposing electronic lock on it.

Donnie had us stay back so as not to get picked up on the security cameras. He nimbly leapt from spot to spot, keeping his skinny ass just out of reach of the camera's view so he could manually hack into it, looping what he called a similar feed that he had recorded from prior nights.

Once he disabled the outdoor cameras we were able to land on the ground outside the door. He leapt down and retrieved from his shell a small device that he attached to the keypad on the door. Dozens of different combinations ran across the screen before finally halting on one and opening the door.

"Man, now I see why we keep you around," I patted his shoulder as we quietly entered the door.

He smiled in response and chuckled, "You guys would be lost without me, and you know it."

"Literally and figuratively, nerd boy," I responded before closing the door quietly behind me; Leo had taken point at the front, looking around the quiet corridor while I brought up the rear, as was our typical mode of operation. "Now, where exactly are we going?"

"Here, this way," he pushed his glasses up and took point up with Leo while Mikey and I followed behind. We wound around the maze of hallways, sticking to the corners and halls as much as possible, but we didn't see anyone around. The path we took had us go down a couple flights of stairs after Don had disabled those cameras as well. He had literally memorized this entire path and where each camera would be, bringing out gadgets here and there to dispose of them.

It was impressive considering the amount of time we had before we discovered this place to actually being here. Let's hope our luck kept up.

We came down to an empty hallway with a single doorway at the end. It seemed kind of weird when nothing else was contained in the long hall, but we'd seen weirder things before.

Mikey peered up at the nameplate and laughed a bit at what it had engraved, "Hey guys, look, Achilles' Podiatry Supply. Get it? _Foot_? Foot clan? Anyone?"

"Yeah, we get it," I huffed out as we all gathered around the door. I looked down at Donnie as he examined the lock, "So what do you need to pull out now? Some sort of bio techno-babble scanner? Laser guided lock pick?"

He rolled his eyes at my joke, but continued to examine the knob before pulling out a plastic card. "You know…this might actually work better." He held the knob with one hand and used the other to slide the card down where the lock would meet the door. A couple jiggles and sure enough the lock popped easily.

"Seriously? After all that it takes a simple _credit card_ to open the door to the dungeon?" I scooted around behind him to go through the open door.

"Well, yeah," he replied, "Who would try to break into a podiatry supply office?"

True, but still, something didn't seem right. Leo picked up on my hesitation and withdrew his weapons as a precaution, prompting the rest of us to do the same.

It didn't take long for us to actually find something else that breathed besides us. These guys weren't typical foot clan _or_ purple dragon goons though; they dressed and patrolled like they were some super military experts. They were fully decked out in high grade bulletproof gear and had high caliber rifles. Those wouldn't be very useful in close quarters combat, so why did they have them?

They were expecting _something_ to possibly happen, but I doubted they ever thought about four pissed off ninja turtles sneaking up from behind. The two of them didn't even see us coming. I picked up a weird rod that each one of them had and handed it to Donnie, "What do you think that is?"

He focused his goggles on the instrument and held it away from everyone as he tried out the button that was on the rubber handle. The end flared up in electricity and we all watched as the sparks and ribbons of power curled around the end of the stick. "Interesting, it looks like some sort of subdual device, using electricity as a means to incapacitate a subject. Not too dissimilar to what I have on my bo staff, but judging by the sound a much higher power. This could actually cause physical damage on top of it shocking a victim unconscious." He turned it off and placed it on his shell, "I'll bring it back home and see if I can learn more about it."

"Here," Leo motioned as I grabbed one of the guard's bodies and followed him, "Let's put them in this room so no one walking by will see them." He went over and carefully pushed down on the handle, quickly looking in to see if the coast was clear. It was only when I heard him gasp that I pushed open the door fully.

The amount of blood splattered across the gymnasium-sized room could fill more than a few horror movies. It was _everywhere_ , on the walls, the floors, and even on the thirty foot ceilings. It wasn't totally dry, which meant it had been done recently, and if you looked close you could see where some marks had been dried there for awhile; most likely staining the wood and paint from someone's lack of care for cleaning. Donnie walked over to examine the deep claw marks that marred the walls and floors, trying to piece together the puzzle that was in front of us.

"Whoaaaaa, what _happened_ here?" Mikey gaped at the carnage we faced.

"I don't know, but the sooner we put these guys somewhere, the sooner we can figure it out." For once, I agreed with my eldest brother, though I wasn't going to admit it to him. "Here, over there," he pointed over to a corner of the room that had metal hoops bolted down to the wooden floor, "Donnie, give me something to tie them up with."

They bound and gagged the two guards I motioned that the way was clear. We snuck back out into the hallway, continuing further into whatever kind of facility this was. All was quiet as we turned down more hallways and rounded corners; a few guards had been surprised by seeing us, but we quietly took them out without a single alarm being sounded.

Donnie was almost awestruck when we came across a couple of what looked to be exam rooms. They held tables with large metal shackles that could bolt down to the table. All sorts of machines lined the walls in the room, but I had no idea what any of them could do. Nerd boy walked over to what looked to be a computer of sorts that sat at the far end of the room and began trying to hack into their system.

"What do you think happened here?" my eldest brother talked as he looked at each machine. I looked over and saw Mikey start touching things, so I batted his hands out of the way. Who knows what he could do by randomly messing with things.

"I'm not quite sure," Donnie mumbled as he continued to type frantically, "I'm still trying to crack into their system, and if I can I may be able to copy over some data to look at when we get back home."

"How much time you need?" I glared at Mikey again as he looked like he was starting to get bored.

"Unknown; their system here is pretty intense so it could take me a bit, and who knows what I'll find once I finally get in."

"Good, Mikey, c'mon, let's get you out of here before you break something or yourself," I began to walk to the door until Leo stood in front of me with his _I'm-about-to-lecture-you_ face. "Seriously? It's been pretty quiet down here and you said yourself we get in and get out. What better way to do that than to get idiot there out of your hair and let nerd boy do his magic?"

He looked like he wanted to argue with me, like he was going to put up a fight, but thankfully he stepped aside and nodded his head, "Just be quiet and get back here once you scope out the rest of the place. I'll radio you if we get done first."

I nodded my understanding and pushed the youngest brother out the door before he could blow us all up. There was a similar room right across the hallway from the one we exited, but that one looked like it had seen better days. The glass looking in was shattered, and the shackles had been pried up from the bed itself. I inwardly cringed as my mind ran with whatever could have happened here.

"C'mon, let's keep moving this way," I whispered to Mikey. We moved silently down the hallway, listening for any movement besides ours. We checked all rooms we came across, but these just looked like basic office spaces; I buzzed the info to the other two to give them the heads up.

We finally came down to an intersection of halls and froze when we heard a couple of guards conversing as they stood watch at their computer station. Mikey pulled out a small mirror so we could peek around the corner.

The two were just as equipped as everyone else we had come across so far. The hallway they stood in had a few doors, but these were different than all the other ones we had seen. Whereas we had seen office doors, and then those weird exam rooms, these looked like something you'd find in a maximum security prison or something. They was a small window that could be open and closed from the outside near the top of the door, and just a small flap on the floor that I'm guessing food was put in everyday.

I couldn't hear a whole lot of their conversation as I heard my other brothers buzzing over the com that they were done; something about they got some information but a safety feature of the system prevented him from downloading everything blah, blah, blah. He was probably like a kid on Christmas with all the sciency stuff he probably just copied over.

They'd be here shortly, and I wanted to get this show on the road, so I signaled to Mikey that we were about to have fun. I took a few shuriken out and whipped them around the corner, bouncing off the light on the ceiling and hitting one guard in the neck. The other one, shocked by the sudden blackout with the shattered light above him, fell easily as we rounded the corner and knocked him into the wall with a loud thud.

Man, for looking like they knew what they were doing, they really didn't.

I reached up for the first door they had been standing by and tried opening the handle. Locked.

"They got any keys on them?" I whispered to my brother, searching the nearest guard to me. Nope, nothing on him. I looked to Mikey and saw him shake his head as well.

"Raph?" I heard a small voice come from a couple doors down, "Is that you?"

That voice sounded like Elena, a very tired and exhausted version, but still very much the same girl. "Elena? Elena! You ok in there?" I tried the handle some more in case it was just stuck.

"You guys need to leave, it's not safe for you to be here," her voice wavered in fear as I could hear her back away from the door.

Mikey began looking around for a key, and motioned he was going to go towards the end of the hall we were in; looks like there was some sort of windowed room towards the end that could have something. I got down on the floor and pried up the flap to try and look into the room. The light inside was a lot brighter than the bulbs were in the hallway, but I couldn't make out where she was.

I saw some sort of torn mattress on one side of the wall, and it looked like it was being weighed down by something. Maybe she was sitting on it?

"Elena, doll, you're going to be ok, we're gonna to get you out of there," I tried to reassure her. Why wouldn't she come over here?

"No! You guys need to leave, I don't need to be rescued."

"What are you talking about?" I was thoroughly confused now. "We just saw a lot of freaky shit, and we're getting you out of here _now_."

Mikey had come back and shook his head in irritation; there wasn't a key that he could find. "Go get Donnie and tell him to hurry his ass up here with his magic keys." He nodded and ran off back where we had come from.

"Hey, babe," I went back to the opening under the door, "Elena, stay with me here. We've all been worried sick about you and want to get you home, ok?"

The silence was thick and I couldn't hear anything from inside. Finally, she answered in a small voice.

"I don't have a home anymore…"

"What are you talking about? Of course you have a home, and we're going to get you to it once we get you out of here…"

"No! I can't go back there ever again!" her frantic cries worried me; what had gotten into her?

I could finally hear my brothers rounding the corner and I motioned for Donnie to start working on the lock while I talked to her. "Look, we'll take care of whatever's bothering ya, ok babe? We'll work through it. We'll get you back to the lair first and let Donnie check you over, and then we'll take you back to your home; your parents have been worried sick."

I could hear her crying softly, "My parents can't see me like this. No one can. Please…"

The click of the door lock above me was the best noise I could have heard all night. He moved back so I could push the handle down and open the door.

"Please," she said as I saw her sitting on the shredded remains of the mattress hugging her knees, "Please don't look at me…"


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

I don't really know what happened to me, but I wish I could turn it back now. All I remembered from that last 'session' with Brad was the never ending pain my body felt. It felt like every single cell had been ripped apart and sewn back together; every muscle fiber torn to shreds just to be shoved back as a whole again.

The next time I woke up, I was…this _thing_ , and my mind still hadn't totally wrapped itself around the predicament I was in. I don't even know how long I had been out; only that I was finally off that damn table.

But then I was in some sort of cell, or room, or something. There were four blank stone walls with a single bare mattress on the floor. At least it had a toilet, but no other running water. The door had a window that could be opened from the outside, but the only times I'd seen it open was when the guards wanted to sneer or make fun of me. At the bottom of the door was a single flap for a food tray and drinking water to be pushed through.

I quickly learned what _not_ to do in my new environment. While I was happy to finally be able to move around, I felt like a caged animal on display in a zoo.

But I _was_ an animal now, or at least something that wasn't totally human. I remembered how I freaked out when I looked down and saw jet black fur covering every inch of my body. I had run over to the toilet and looked at my reflection in the water from the bright light above my head; that neverending artificial sun. It was just like the light in the exam room I had been held in for who knew how long.

The image in the water shocked me, and I backed against the wall and sank to my knees. I wasn't human anymore. I had a small snout, and a mouth full of sharp teeth. Small circular ears adorned the top of my head, everything being covered in the fur, though my face and ears had a small contrast with dark gray markings that adorned them.

I held out my hands in front of me and saw large yet strong fingers that hung in mid-air; I flexed them and jumped in fright when two inch razor sharp claws jumped out from each nail bed. I winced at the unfamiliar sensation in my hands, but after a few moments I realized I could retract and extend them whenever I wanted to.

If I thought claws were weird I had another thought coming when I realized I had a small bud of a tail behind me. What the _fuck_ did Brad do to me?

It wasn't so much what he did to me, it was more now of what he was going to make me _do_. I learned in those few weeks after the transformation just how evil a person could actually be. Just how many lives he had already made me take…All for some sick experiment of his.

I had been lying on my mattress hours after one of the cruel sessions I had been forced to participate in. I knew it wouldn't be much longer before I'd be forced to do it all again, so I had tried to lie down on the hard surface in an attempt to get some sort of rest. My outward wounds had all but healed, but I was still exhausted; dickwad tended to prefer me to be barely functional during sessions. Claimed it made me more _true to my new form_ or some shit.

But that damn light would never ever go off. It was just like the one in the exam room where I'd get injected with god knows what. So sleep never came easily, nor stayed long. At least I didn't have the beeping to listen to now. That was a small blessing.

I heard the guards outside the door chatting away with one another. Ever since that one night where they came in to beat the shit out of me for lifting the food flap to look out; I just tried to ignore them now. It hadn't really clicked in my head something was going on until I heard other familiar voices outside the door. I crawled over to the door and tried to listen harder. Could it really be?

"Raph?" I barely croaked out, the sound of my own voice causing me to frown. It had changed a little as well; I had just never noticed it since I didn't make a point to talk to myself out loud. "Is that you?"

It was him; I could hear his deep voice etched with worry on the other side as the handle jiggled a little bit, "Elena? Elena! Are you ok in there?"

"You guys need to leave, it's not safe for you to be here," my voice wavered as I spoke to him and moved across the small room to return to the remains of my shredded mattress. After everything I had done there's no way I would allow anything to happen to them too. I hugged my knees and shook with fear at the idea of what I had already done.

"Elena, doll, you're going to be ok, and we're going to get you out of there." I could tell he was just trying to reassure me, but he didn't know what had happened while I was here; what all they had _made_ me do.

"No! You guys need to leave, I don't need to be rescued." It was true, I was beyond the point of saving.

"What are you talking about?" I could tell Raphael was getting frustrated with me. "We just saw a lot of freaky shit, and we're getting you out of here _now_."

Silence fell between the two of us momentarily. He must have seen the other parts of the hospital, or prison, or whatever the hell this place was; the rooms I had been in.

"Hey, babe," I could see him try to look in under the food delivery flap, "Elena, stay with me here. We've all been worried sick about you and want to get you home, ok?"

Images of my past life flashed through my memories; times spent with my mom and dad, holidays with both siblings around us, even times where I had sat around the table with all four boys and Splinter eating pizza. I couldn't go back to any of those anymore. There's no way anyone would accept what had been done to me. Tears began to form at the feeling of what I'd lost, "I don't have a home anymore…"

"What are you talking about? Of course you have a home, and we're going to get you to it once we get you out of here…"

"No! I can't go back there ever again!" I began to panic at the thought of the reaction my parents would have to seeing me. It would absolutely tear them apart!

I could hear other footsteps approach the door, and assumed since there was no other fighting that one or all of the brothers had reached me. I wrapped my arms around my knees and pulled them as tight as I could around my body; I could feel my claws slowly begin to unsheathe themselves and press into the skin on my legs. The pain was there, but I didn't care.

Soon I knew they would be in my room, and thinking back on before I had been altered I would have welcomed them with open arms. That's all I could dream about those first few weeks. But now? I didn't want them to see what had been done to me. I was ashamed at my weakness in not being able to fight back or protect myself, and because of that weakness this is what happened.

"Look, we'll take care of whatever's bothering you, ok babe? We'll work through it. We'll get you back to the lair first and let Donnie check you over, and then we'll take you back to your home; your parents have been worried sick."

Oh how I wish I could see my parents one more time, even my siblings. But it just wasn't possible; not anymore. I wonder what they would have thought at my disappearance; how they've probably grieved thinking I was dead in a gutter somewhere. Try as I may I couldn't prevent the prickling of those tears from escaping my eyes, "My parents can't see me like this, no one can. Please…"

The click of the door lock across the room from me was the worst noise I could have ever heard. I rested my face down on top of my knees to hide the monstrosity I had become, and wished I could be shot dead right here and now.

"Please," I said quietly as I closed my eyes to try and shut out the tears, their wetness dropping down to hit my thighs, "Please don't look at me…"

I could hear the sharp intake of breath as he was startled to see me, see what I had become. I pulled myself closer to my knees, sobbing loudly as the realization hit that everything I had loved, everything I had ever worked for, was now gone. No one would want anything to do with me.

Everything…gone.

Maybe I should use my claws against myself and be done with it, though judging from past attempts here in this room I knew it would fail. Brad was right…I _was_ damaged goods.

A moment passed, then two, before strong arms grabbed and pulled me close to his large body. One wrapped itself around my back and held me protectively close to him while the other one stroked the top of my head; I could feel his lips press against the fur on top of my head as he held me close. I tried to fight against it at first, but my body seemed to rebel against my own feelings and quickly melted into him and held on tight. The cries that racked my entire body shook us both, and I could feel his head resting on my own as I pulled myself close to his plastron.

I had dreamed of this moment for weeks, maybe even months since I lost track of time, but now felt repulsed at the feeling of my own fur being held by someone else; it just felt too alien for me.

I had heard every gasp that had come from each of the three brothers as they saw me, and I inwardly cringed at each or their reactions. I felt Raph make some sort of movement with his hand, probably to tell them to back off, but it didn't help at all. I already knew they thought I was a monster.

"Guys, I hate to break up this reunion," Donnie whispered urgently, "But we're really close to go-time if we don't want to have to fight our way out of here…"

Oh, no. It _was_ close to the nightly training session. Soon there'd be easily fifteen to thirty guys brought in, all clueless as to what was about to happen to them. All lambs led to the slaughter. But it was the guards that brought them in that I was more scared of; those bastards had no mercy and loved to take out their anger issues on me.

"Hey, doll…" I could tell he felt me flinch underneath him, "We gotta go, ok? We want to be outta here before anyone else shows up."

"I…I can't go out like this," I replied as I loosened my grip on him, "No one can see me like this…"

"Hey, hey, hey…look at me," he pulled away from me, but I couldn't muster up enough courage to do as he wished. "Elena, _look_ at me." He gently grabbed my chin with his hand and lifted my face to look at his. He saw where the tears had stained the fur on my face and wiped the wetness away with his fingers and chuckled softly, "Look who you're talking to here. You still look better than all of our ugly mugs put together, ya know?"

"Raph," I spoke low to him as I didn't really know how to proceed, "What comes next? How am I supposed to get through this?"

"Well, first we're going to get you out of here, and then from there we'll do what we do best and wing it," he leaned forward to rest his forehead against mine, "But we'll do it together, you hear me? I'll help you get through this…"

The small gesture flooded my body with warmth as a small part of me wished it was true. Maybe we could pull through this together. Maybe Donnie could reverse whatever was done to me. Could it be possible?

"I want to believe that, Raph, I really do. But I'm dangerous," I reached up to put my hands on either side of his head, holding ours together, "I don't want to risk you or your brother's safety."

"And _I_ can assure you we've been through worse," his hands covered mine as he pulled back to look at me. "Just give us a chance…But we gotta go _now_." Whether he was alluding to giving him and the others a chance, or giving him and me a chance I couldn't tell.

A frown crossed my face and I was torn on my decision; really no matter what I decided I felt like it would be the wrong one.

"Ok," I said quietly after a few more split seconds, "let's get out of here."

The red clad turtle seemed surprised when it took me a few seconds to sorely stand up; I was also now not much shorter than him. "You're hurt," he stated, frowning slightly.

"No, I'll be ok, I've just been roughed up and still have a lot of tender spots," It was true I had no open wounds on me nor broken bones; those tended to heal more quickly now that I am the way I am. But it didn't mean it hurt any less, and it was something I was still trying to get used to. I used his arm to help me take a few steps, but I needed to rely on his body to stay standing straight.

Raphael helped me over to the door where I got my first good look at the brothers; they each met my eyes but hid their emotions behind their masks. I could tell all three felt sorry for me, but sympathy was truthfully the last thing I needed or wanted.

"Mikey," Raph helped transfer me over to using the youngest turtle as a crutch, "I want you to help her while I take care of any company. And I swear to god if anything happens to her I'm taking it out of your ass first, got it?"

"You know I won't let that happen," the youngest brother said grimly as he tightened his hold around my waist.

"It's good to have you back," Leo smiled genuinely. "Do you know if there are any other captives?"

I shook my head, "No, I'm the only one that has survived this long from what I can tell." I learned the hard way trying to contact the other rooms; that's when I figured out just what kind of assholes the guards could be.

"We're behind schedule," Donnie pointed at his watch, "We've got to go n-"

Sirens began blaring as red lights illuminated and pulsed through all of the hallways. My ears were now way more sensitive than they used to be and I covered my ears in pain at the volume.

"C'mon, we gotta go!" Raph yelled as we took off as fast as I could manage. I limped a good bit of the way but was slowing Mikey down.

"Angelcakes, as much as I'd have fun running a three-legged race right now, we need to go faster," he didn't even give me a chance to argue before scooping me up in his arms. He hurried down the hallway after his brothers, trying not to jostle me around terribly, but it didn't really matter as every part of my body was sore.

Gunshots rang out as I heard the fighting ahead of us, and I just tucked my head down under my arms and as far into his plastron I could get it, not wanting to see or hear any of the altercations. I flinched violently when I heard the electric nightsticks those guards liked to use on me discharge on someone, and I heard a painful grunt from one of the turtles.

"I think I know just what those things do now Donnie!" Raphael growled out as I heard something large get thrown past us and slam hard into the wall.

A hand grabbed my foot from behind Mikey and tried to yank me out of his arms, causing me to scream out in pain and fright. He lost his grip and I fell hard to the floor, hitting my back on the solid tile. I kicked at whoever had grabbed me, and opened my eyes to see there were a good ten guards fighting in and around us; it was one of them that had grabbed me.

He raised his nightstick in the air, the electric charge swirling around the end, and came forward to hit me with it. I used my forearm from my prone position to block his weapon, the glancing blow still shocking the hell out of me. A grunt escaped me before I saw a pair of nunchucks wrap around the guard's throat, yanking him away violently and snapping his neck in the process.

"You ok?" Mikey helped me back up, pulling my arm around his shoulders and helping me stand.

"Yeah, I'm ok…a short shock from one of those isn't so bad, just stings like a bitch," I grunted out as he and I made our way towards the exit. I could see it now, and judging by the amount of guards I knew we didn't have time before the group of purple dragons would be showing.

It was the same way every night. A group of guards would come to get me 'ready' and throw me in a huge room, then lock a bunch of thugs in there with me for a friggin thunderdome or something.

Donnie and Leo were finishing up with the last couple of guards that had just entered from the hospital hallway, and I turned to see Raphael fighting with three of his own, all of them wielding those damn sticks.

"Mikey, you gotta go help him," I pointed behind us, "I'll stay up here with these two." I could see the hesitation due to what Raph's threats were just minutes ago. "Please, if I could walk right I'd be back there myself. Go."

He nodded slightly and helped me lean against the wall as he ran back to help his older brother. It only took a few moments before the two in front of me had disposed of our threats; afterwards they each held one of my arms around their shoulders to make our escape faster.

I heard both turtles finish up behind us and catch up in the hall as we hurried towards the exit; Raph quickly scooped me up once he had caught up to the three of us. I normally would have protested, but my body just didn't care what I thought anymore.

Fortunately we were able to leave the hospital minutes before the purple dragons were to arrive. If push came to shove I would have sucked up any soreness to fight off each and every single one of them to protect my boys, but I inwardly was thankful for the reprieve.

He didn't set me down once we got out of the hospital, and I didn't fight to get put down. It felt good being carried so close to him, and he took great care to not move me around as much as possible. The truck was only a few blocks away, so it was only a few short moments before we set down by the opening back doors.

My body was so tired from the tests and fights I had been in the past few weeks, and all I wanted to do was go curl up for an entire winter and hibernate. I relaxed in his arms, and was silently grateful that he didn't automatically set me down as he settled himself in the back of the van.

Raph leaned his face down and gave me a slight squeeze before placing a kiss on my head, "Go ahead and get some sleep, E. We'll be home soon."


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

 _I awoke from a groggy sleep and found myself lying in the middle of a large room with wooden floors and bare walls. Had there been a couple basketball hoops and markings on the floor I'd swear I would have been in a high school gymnasium. I had been sitting in my room, or cell…whatever it was, discovering all of the new physical features I had when five large men came in brandishing what looked like night sticks. They all had frowns on their faces as they saw how disgusting I was, and flicked on their batons all at the same time. The sound of electricity crackling across the surfaces of each of those sticks shocked my newly sensitive ears, and I covered them to try and drown it out._

 _Apparently all five of them were on high alert and the moment I made any movement they were upon me, jabbing the electric batons into my sides, the back of my head, anywhere they could hit or thrust them. I cried out in pain and tried to reason with them, begging for them to stop, but they didn't. I quickly collapsed into unconsciousness, but then woke up here. Where was this now? I highly doubt they just decided to deposit me in a school, so as I sorely began to sit up I looked around to see if there was anything else that could clue me in._

 _That's when I realized I was chained to the floor. Thick metal hoops had been bolted to the floor and attached to them were chains that led up to the shackles on my wrists. Seriously, these people and their restraints. Brad must get some sort of sick enjoyment out of this._

 _Speaking of dipshit, I looked up and saw high up on the wall stood an observation box of sorts, kind of like box seats you'd see in a football stadium. He stood behind the glass and lifted a glass of wine up to his smirking lips as he looked down on me._

 _I didn't have time to really contemplate what was going on before the door to the gym opened up and five blindfolded men were paraded into the room, the large door quickly shut and locked behind them. Once everyone heard the click of the door they all took off their blindfolds and blinked their eyes to let them adjust to the light before settling down on my watching form._

 _A few of them shrieked in surprise at seeing me, which dug an invisible dagger into my core. Of course they were probably freaked out by looking at me. Hell,_ I _was even freaked out by looking at myself in the toilet water, so who knows what they were thinking._

 _The crackle of the megaphone from above got all of our attention as Brad's voice flooded the area. "Why hello, new recruits, how are we this evening? Nevermind, I have a feeling that will change soon enough."_

 _"_ _So we've been informed that you are in your final initiation into becoming purple dragons, well done for making it this far. You've only one more task standing between you and full membership." His voice paused for a moment as I saw him take another sip of his drink._

 _"_ _That creature on the floor before you is the last task." I watched as all of their judgmental eyes fell upon me. "Whoever brings me her head will be the only recruit to gain membership; all others will be disposed of. Understand? It shouldn't be too difficult as you all have access to your own personal weapons still."_

 _The recruits looked surprised as they glanced between one another and me still. "Oh," came the voice again, "But there is a time limit of sorts, so if none of you succeed then you will_ all _be disposed of, understand? I'd display a timer, but what would be the fun in that?"_

 _Smug chuckling could be heard overhead, and I didn't even want to see his disgusting face anymore, "Begin!"_

The screams of dying men dragged me from my slumber, and I whipped my arms around as if I were still being attacked. Pieces of a ripped blanket were flung from my extended claws, and I paused in question; I didn't have blankets in my cell, so where was I?

I blinked in hesitation as my eyes began to adjust to the dimness in the room. Being enveloped in bright white light these past few months had been the only thing my eyes had seen, even from behind closed eyelids, so to have this amount of darkness was foreign and blinding to me now.

A slight shift from an armchair near my bed got my attention, and my whole body reacted by pushing away from the possible threat. My back met the wall behind me, the fluffiness of the pillows and blankets below me indicating that I at least wasn't in the cell anymore.

"Hey, hey," a deep voice rang softly through the room, "You're safe, doll. We're in the lair." That was Raphael's voice. Please tell me this was not a dream.

I rubbed my eyes in irritation as they finally began to focus and overcome the shadows in the room. Sure enough I was in the spare room in the lair, _my_ room. I hadn't seen it in ages. Nothing had been moved since the last time I was here; seeing Splinter's kanji painting with the singular word _family_ on the wall was a welcome comfort to my damaged psyche at the moment.

I pulled the pillow closer to me in slight comfort as I could see him lean forward to stretch before resting his elbows on his knees.

"Did you sleep in that chair?" I asked quietly, feeling slightly guilty that he would stay uncomfortable just to watch over me.

"Well, it was either this or guard your doorway since everyone kept trying to check in on you," he began slowly, "I didn't want any of them to wake you up after you fell asleep in the truck. Didn't think you'd be out this long."

His eyes lifted to meet mine, which I quickly averted, "You were havin some sort a nightmare. I debated on trying to wake you or not just now."

My eyes bore a hole into the floor as I felt my face flush in embarrassment; I think this was the only time I felt glad to have the dark fur covering my face.

I had nightmares constantly now, and they were usually variants of the one I had just woken up from. They were of prior training sessions and other times where I was strapped to that damn table in the exam room again. They were always super vivid as well, and lots of times I woke up with phantom pains of prior injuries.

"Hey, how you holdin up?" His voice dragged me from my thoughts, and I waved my hands a little to dismiss my memories.

"Yeah…yeah, I'm ok," I got out of bed and stretched my limbs. The pain and stiffness that I had been expecting weren't there, and I frowned as one of his comments a second ago echoed in my head. "Wait, how long have I been out?"

The large turtle stood up to meet me as he stretched his own body out, "A little over two days. Nerd boy wanted to come in and check your vitals and whatnot, but turned shell when I looked at him."

Wow. I hadn't slept more than fifteen or twenty minutes at a time these past few months and now my body was given the opportunity to properly rejuvenate.

A yawn crossed my face as if in response to the idea of sleeping more, and I quickly covered my open mouth, ashamed of the rows of sharp teeth that it now contained. I could see him frown in response to my reaction, but he didn't say anything.

A loud rumbling sound echoed throughout the room, and I jumped in shock as I realized the sound and sensations came from my own stomach.

Raph chuckled a deep, throaty sound as he squeezed past me to go open up the bedroom door, "C'mon, let's get you some food."

I nodded and I followed him out towards the kitchen. I could only assume it was extremely early in the morning since the youngest brother was passed out on the living room couch, the television flickering in the background. Most of the lights were dim in the lair, really the only one on was in Donatello's lab.

"He's been up most of the time analyzing whatever information he was able to get out of that lab while we were there," the red masked turtle's voice answered the internal question I had pondered. "You know he can live off of caffeine like Mikey does pizza."

Raph and I walked quietly over to the kitchen, and I took a seat on one of the bar stools that lined the area. The smell of coffee permeated the area, as the quiet sounds of the coffee maker brewing another pot echoed the large room.

As if on cue the purple masked brother shuffled out of his lab, cup in hand, ready to refill it with the next round of caffeine.

"Elena!" he gasped as he realized I was up and about, "I didn't realize you had woken up!"

I motioned with my hands for him to quiet down and pointed over to the prone form of the youngest on the sofa.

"Sorry, sorry," he whispered as he crossed over the room to where we were. Raph had retrieved some eggs and sausage from the fridge and set them out on the counter, getting ready to cook us something to eat. Donnie came over and placed a hand on my shoulder from behind, hesitantly gripping it before finally reaching his arms around my neck to give me a hug and talk softly to me, "You don't know how happy we are to have you back."

I reached up and patted his arms with my hand before pulling out the chair next to me. The purple masked brother sat next to me, but waved his hands indicating he wasn't hungry as Raphael began breaking eggs into a bowl.

"I'm glad to be back too, guys. Started to think y'all had forgotten about me or something." Both brothers stopped still in their tracks and looked at me with a slight shock in their eyes, and I began to feel awkward, "I mean, I'm just kidding guys. I knew you'd bust me out eventually."

A few moments of weird silence passed before I tapped my fingers on the counter, "So, uh…Donnie. Find out anything fun yet from the data you got from the lab?"

He drummed his fingers across his arm as he sat back with them crossed across his chest, "Well, so far there's a _lot_ of biomedical information on all of the subjects prior to you, which kind of confirmed what we had assumed before you…uh…before you went missing. It looks like whoever the head honcho is in charge of the operation was wanting to create a mutant army of sorts."

"Yeah, so what makes this different than what Shredder's done in the past?" Raph began scrambling a few eggs in the skillet on the stove. "He cooked up Rocksteady and Bebop and we see so well _that_ worked out. Those two idiots are still locked up thankfully."

"Well, it looks like this one was more involved and tried working with this variation of mutagen to purposefully create a _specific_ end product," Donnie stood up to walk over and grab himself a fresh cup of coffee as the machine switched from brew to warm. "Instead of just rolling the dice and seeing what happens they wanted to ensure what they wanted is exactly what they got. They were combining DNA into a very specific pattern."

Well that would most likely explain the body parts that had been found throughout the city; products of failed experiments. Ugh, even the word _experiment_ made my skin crawl, knowing that's all I was to them.

"So why was I so successful and the other, um, volunteers not?" I asked hesitantly. Donnie shook his head in uncertainty.

"I don't really know yet," he sipped on the hot liquid before pouring me a cup. I'd truthfully rather have tea, but any hot liquid would help to soothe my nerves now. "All of the information that's available on you is just basic vitals and such. Anything that would indicate specifics to your case wasn't there."

A memory from my captivity rose to the forefront of my brain, "Well, I remember dickhead said something about how he was allowed to take lead on my case. Maybe he had a breakthrough or something."

The eyes behind the purple mask thought deeply, and he finally nodded in agreement. "He most likely had all the information on a different server. That's what I would do at least if I was some sort of evil scientist, but I'd of course have to have a sky room where lightning could come in through to zap the creature alive with the help of my trusty hunchbacked sidekick."

I smiled at his weak attempt at a joke, but didn't want to break it to him that just because there was no lightning that I wasn't shocked…repeatedly on some occasions. They didn't know the horrors I had to go through in there, and I wasn't about to open that part of my life up to them. Not now.

"Maybe," he continued hesitantly, "and only if you're ready to, I'd like to be able to run a full diagnostic panel and workup on your current physiology. I may be able to pinpoint the differences in the mutagen we've encountered in the past and the one that Brad tinkered with in order to reverse engineer a retro-mutag-"

"Hey, nerd boy," a low growl came from over by the stove as Raphael plated the scrambled eggs and toast, "Why don't ya lay off on her for a bit? She's been through hell and back."

Donatello held his hands up in surrender as he backed away slowly, "Oh! I didn't imply like right this second and let me dissect her or anything!"

"Guys, _guys_ ," I whispered out harshly towards the two, pointing my head at the snoring figure on the couch. I could feel the rage building in my inner core, and I didn't want it to consume me like it had done in the past. "It's not a big deal, Donnie. I'll come by in a bit _after_ you go get some rest. You look like shit, dude."

"And you," I hissed out towards Raph as he pushed the plate of eggs towards me, "I can speak for myself, ya know."

I instantly felt like a huge bitch as I saw the scathing remark made an impact on him. Damn, I gotta start thinking before I speak. Get your shit together, Elena, and quit being so angry. "Sorry, I mean, I've had a few months of everything being decided for me that I just need to think for myself for a bit."

He snorted a bit in response before taking a seat, a few seats away from me I sadly noted, and began working on his food. Donnie told me that I was welcome to stop by anytime I'd like, as he would be sifting through all the data for a couple days at the minimum, and left the room to head back to the lab and his adjoined bedroom. Minutes later I saw his light turn out and inwardly smiled, knowing he'd finally get a little rest.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly as I pushed the eggs around my plate. Though part of me wanted to devour every single morsel, the other part was not hungry since I felt guilty for making him feel bad. "I get bitchy so easily now, and I don't really know why."

I could hear the noises from him eating stop, and I glanced over to see him studying me. He didn't say anything as he watched me, and I began to feel awkward under his gaze, so I did the only thing I could do and took a bite of the eggs.

He laughed as I made a face in reaction to his cooking, "Hey, I never said I was as good as Mikey. At least I didn't burn the toast." It was then I noticed he hadn't really touched his eggs as well. I snickered slightly as I took both plates and cleaned them off into the trash, and grabbed the egg carton from the fridge.

"Here, let me make _you_ some food," I quickly washed out the pan and bowls he used. "And we'll call it even for snapping at you."

"Deal." He slid my coffee cup over to me so I could drink it while I cooked. "By that point the others may be waking up, and you know once _that_ one wakes up it's all over with," he jerked his thumb towards where Mikey slept.

I nodded my head in agreement as I cracked a few eggs into the bowl and grabbed a few spices from the rack. After everyone was awake again I'd make my way over to the lab and see if Donnie could crack whatever code was contained in my DNA to fix me.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Sure enough, Raphael's prediction about his youngest brother was right. Not only did Mikey straight up _tackle_ me to the floor in delight once he had awoken from the couch, which he quickly apologized for after thinking I was still injured, but he waited on me hand and foot asking me every few minutes if I needed anything.

It had been a few hours after waking up in my room when everyone else had begun to stir. Everyone else except for Donnie, who I could hear softly snoozing in his bedroom.

It was that sound that echoed in my ears slightly that caused me to shake my head in an attempt to make it go away. The first few days after my transformation had been complete hell, every sound pounded through my ears; even the sound of a fly's wings reverberated like a helicopter's propeller through my skull. I had just finally began being able to ignore noises and tune them out, though every once in awhile I could still pick up nuances of echoes. That would explain why I could hear a turtle gently sleeping in a room well blocked off by doors and walls, all during Mikey's excited rantings.

The rest of the family and myself were all relaxing in the living room area, Raph's and my plates deposited in the sink for cleaning at a later time and the orange turtle's questions calmed. I had to admit it was wonderful to have _real_ food and drinks for once; all I got in that lab was an oatmeal paste that had nutrients or some crap in it and plain water. Most of the time I didn't even eat it even though I was starving, just because it was that disgusting.

Fortunately, Splinter had woken up shortly after our meal and he began making tea for the both of us. I had curled up on the couch and leaned against Raphael as I sipped the hot liquid, relishing the warm feeling that invaded my stomach as Mikey and Leo bantered back and forth about something I wasn't really paying attention to. I felt a strong arm squeeze me closer to him slightly, and when I looked up I could see him smiling slightly down at me.

"You sure you missed all his idiot talk?" he whispered slightly, nodding his head in the direction of his youngest brother.

A small chuckle escaped my throat as I nestled against him and took a small sip of the soothing tea, "More than anything…"

"So, Elena," Leonardo's voice halted his brother's ramblings and sat down on a recliner near where we sat, "What do you think is next on your list?"

A frown crossed my features as my brain contemplated his question. What _was_ I going to do now?

I could feel Raph get slightly tense beside me, "C'mon Leo, give her some time to-"

"No, no, it's ok," I held my hand up to calm him down, before sitting up and resting my elbows on my knees. "I guess I hadn't really thought about it a whole lot while I was in there. I was in more of a try-not-to-get-myself-killed kind of mode."

Flashes of past tests and injections crossed my mind, and I shook my head to get rid of them. "I guess I need to see what pieces of my old life I have still remaining. Any of you guys know what happened to my family…my apartment?"

I looked around and saw all three turtles look at each other in guilt, but not back at me, "Ok, way to give a girl some enthusiasm y'all. Not everyone at once now..."

"We've been keeping, erm, a continued surveillance on your family since you've been gone," the eldest turtle supplied after a few moments of silence between the three brothers and father.

"A couple of weeks after you went missing a 'body' was found up by the Hudson that looked just like you." I covered my mouth in shock, and swallowed a little bile that had begun to rise up my throat. "Whatever that thing was, it was convincing enough for your family to think you had been mugged and stabbed to death, so as far as they are concerned you're currently buried up at-"

"Woodlawn," I finished quietly. The blue masked brother nodded slowly in agreement. "Yeah, we've got a family mausoleum up there, and when we were little my parents bought us all double plots near it in case we ever got married." I laughed a little at the memory, "I always told them it was morbid to plan ahead like that. Guess they were right."

"I had my sons go to your apartment shortly after your disappearance in order to remove any personal effects that may have exposed our existence to the world," the wise old rat interjected as silence had filled the room. "They have been placed in a box in your room here awaiting your return."

"Thank you, Splinter," I mumbled out quietly as I mulled the information over in my head. Luckily I didn't have many things I was attached to, but I did have a couple photographs I kept with me from when we were all younger…I just never had a reason to think anyone would see them. I'll have to check out this box later after everything had settled down a bit.

"So, for all intents and purposes my family thinks I'm dead and gone?" I could hear my voice quiver slightly, and I felt tears wanting to spring to my eyes, but I blinked them back and sat up straighter. I felt a firm hand settle on my lower back and I smiled gratefully to the turtle beside me.

A small echo of a noise rang through my ears as I heard the fourth turtle begin to wake up in the other room.

"Yes," Leo began to pace slightly in the living room, "Your sister was very vocal in saying that it wasn't you that they found, but your parents were so in grief they didn't believe her…chalking it up to a PTSD episode possibly."

Of course Anya would have raised a stink over the matter. I hoped she didn't put a permanent fracture in the family because of me though…

"So what was it they planted in the river? A clone or something? And how come you guys didn't believe it was me?" All sorts of questions began invading my brain, and I rubbed my forehead in irritation.

"E, we've seen _way_ too many weird things to think the foot would just dump you in the river," the normally rambunctious Mikey was mellow as he leaned up against the wall. "But as for what that fake was, D tried to explain it to us, but you know how he gets."

I chuckled slightly as I nodded my head in agreement. Yeah, I could totally see the scientist inside him fighting to get out and examine something like that. I jerked my thumb back towards the lab, "That's fine, I'll just ask him in a minute once he gets a cup of coffee. He's almost as bad as Raph here when he first wakes up."

I ignored the fake shock from the red masked turtle behind me as a large yawn echoed across the room from the lab. Moments later Donatello staggered through the door and gave a little wave as he shuffled over to the kitchen to get his much needed drink.

"Woah, how did you know he was awake angelcakes?" I saw the familiar inquisitiveness return to the youngest brother as he straightened up a little.

"You guys couldn't hear him? He's totally been shuffling around in his room for a couple minutes before coming out here," I scratched up towards one of the ears on top of my head. "it was kind of irritating to be truthful."

"What's going on in here?" I heard Donnie's voice yawn as he came over to where we all sat.

"It seems Elena has some rather interesting talents as a side effect from her capture," I could hear my adoptive father say as he stroked his beard in contemplation.

"Yeah, I've only noticed a couple of things since I got turned into whatever _this_ is," I indicated the fur and other physical features on me. "Donnie and I were going to do some work in the lab later to see if he could crack the code and maybe even reverse it."

The old rat continued stroking his beard in thought, "Perhaps, but it is also a possibility that your transformation could be permanent, and any attempts at a reversal could put your body at greater risk." He stood slowly and began to make his way over to his room that adjoined the dojo. "Please come see me later so that we may have a private discussion regarding your future." I nodded in approval; I always enjoyed our talks, and if nothing else he might make me feel better about my predicament.

Not even a moment passed before Michelangelo took over his father's chair and looked at me in awe, "So what other things can you do? Can you shoot lasers out of your eyes? Do they feel weird?"

I genuinely laughed at his question, and felt better knowing he was getting back to his former self. "No, Mikey, no lasers, but I know I'm stronger and faster than I used to be. I don't really know what else I can do or what's going on inside, but I was hoping that one over there would be able to solve the case." Donatello waved as he heard us talking about him and began shuffling back towards his lab.

"I guess that's my cue, eh?"

The remaining three brothers decided to go work out in the dojo once the realization that the next few hours would be pretty boring set in. Raph seemed hesitant to leave me for any sort of time, but I assured him I would be ok in his brother's hands, and that I would come get him if anything interesting happened.

Of course I had lied a little, wanting a break away from so many people hovering over me. I had spent the last few months either being by myself or being attacked by swarms, so I was internally conflicted as to what I actually wanted.

Truthfully going back to sleep in my bed for the next couple of days seemed like a great idea.

Once the caffeine hit his system Donatello became more and more like his old self, talking to himself as he flitted back and forth in the lab. He was currently running the sample of my blood into some sort of machine he had hooked up to his computer and analyzing the results.

"Ok, so it looks like the base part of your animal DNA is mainly bear, which would explain why you have the increased strength you do. There are other species also involved here, and I'm actually rather impressed with how they were able to splice everything together in one cohesive unit, but besides the bear you have two other overarching species that make up the bulk of the foreign DNA," his fingers quickly typed over the keyboard as he pulled up pictures of everything that was in me.

He pointed over to a picture of something I'd never really seen, "That right there is a wolverine. I thought originally that your retractable claws would have been feline in nature, but it appears they may have pulled some pieces from this guy instead. That would also compound on your strength and tenacity with the bear genes in a fight. Though with their attitude and aggressiveness I'm surprised they were able to weed that part out."

A small frown crossed my features as I mulled over the info. I _had_ been a lot more irritable lately, but I chalked that up to the horrors the lab put me through. I wonder if the DNA mixed in with mine may be responsible.

A picture of a starfish pulled up after the wolverine, "So what about that? A simple little starfish after both of those two big bads?"

"Yeah, but it totally makes _sense_ ," he talked out loud to himself. Seeing my puzzled look brought him back to the current situation. "See, some types of starfish can regenerate. Like _literally_ grow new limbs, and have even grown a whole new starfish from just a limb before. They can also shed their limbs if needed to evade a predator…but, um. Please don't do that in here." He grinned slightly and saw I caught onto the joke.

"Trust me, I'll try not to lose any arms or legs in here anytime soon," I poked him on the shoulder, "so what do you think they were trying to accomplish with this power ranger of a creation? I feel like a platypus to be truthful."

"Well if you were a platypus you'd also have venom you could inject into any predators and…" he stopped as he saw my raised eyebrow, "Oh, you're joking."

"Yeah, but being able to poison someone would be pretty awesome, just sayin," I responded, laughing slightly.

The purple masked turtle sat back in his chair and slightly crossed his arms with a finger extended as he took a breath to talk. Ah yes, it was his _lecture pose_ the brothers and I called it. "It would be envenomation, technically, since they wouldn't be ingesting whatever the toxin would be. See there's a difference between poison and venom and…and I can totally see you don't care." He looked down at how he was positioned and laughed a bit, "Yup, I'm doing it again."

My hands raised in defeat, "Hey, you figured it out this time at least."

" _Any_ way," he continued as he stood up to stretch, "Whatever they were trying to do with you, what they _did_ make you into is a creature that is built to fight, and to last in a fight. Like some sort of teddy bear tank or something."

He instantly put his hands in the air as I growled low at the comparison, "Hey! Don't hurt me, I was channeling Mikey for a second. You know how he likes to name things."

"Yeah, let's _not_ let him get that one in his head," I shook my own head to rid myself of the building ire, "I'll never live that one down."

He nodded in agreement as he leaned forward to peer into the blood on the microscope slide nearby. I came up behind him and put my hand on his shoulder as I watched the screen above us that showed me what he saw too.

"You know," he said absentmindedly as he peered through the small tube, "I'd love to be able to see the rate of regeneration you have now, but it would involve inflicting new injuries, so of course," he trailed off for a moment, "ethically I couldn't subject you to those kinds of experiments." He screeched loudly which caused me to jerk away, and I felt my claws sheathe themselves back into my fingers.

When I saw him turn around to look at me my eyes went wide with shock as I saw five small puncture wounds on the fleshy part of his shoulder. The dark red blood that began to seep to the surface made a stark contrast to his darker olive green skin.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" I shrieked as I ran over to the medical carts and grabbed some gauze to put pressure against them. The pricks weren't deep, and thankfully his reaction time probably prevented them from being bigger than they were. As he held the gauze next to his shoulder I went back over to get a bandage and ointment and helped him patch it up.

"Donnie, I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened. I didn't even think about extending them out or anything…" I babbled on as tears pricked to my eyes.

I had hurt one of them. Not even awake for six fucking hours and I had already hurt one of my brothers.

"It's fine, they're not deep or anything. I probably didn't even need a bandage. But, hey, at least now we can see if you can envemonate someone now," a small chuckle escaped his mouth, but quickly stopped as he saw I wasn't following suit.

"It didn't even happen until I mentioned experiments, so maybe it was an instinctual response-" his voice trailed off as he stopped and looked at me critically. I didn't feel comfortable under his gaze and looked down at the floor as I held my forearms close to my body as some sort of protection.

Moments of silence passed before his conclusion shattered the stillness, "he did some horrible things on you, didn't they."

It wasn't even a question; he knew. I couldn't look up at him. I couldn't let him see the pain behind my eyes as I saw some of the flashes from those times and remembered just how much pain I was in. So I did all I could do and slightly nodded my head.

"Hey, c'mere, c'mere, c'mere," his voice gently interrupted my thoughts, and I felt him gently pull me over into a large and comforting hug. I relaxed slightly as his leaner arms pulled me close as I didn't realize I was shaking slightly from the shock of the situation.

"Hey, you don't have to worry about them anymore, you know that right?" he said softly as I nodded my head a little. "You're back and that's all that matters. We'll figure everything else from here on out."

"I swear, if there's a way I can reverse this safely, I'll find it," his gentle voice continued, calming me down. I had a special relationship with each brother, and I always loved how Donnie was always level headed and saw the best in each situation. I pulled back and saw him crack a small smile, "No Stockman has ever got one over on us before."

Even though I knew he was just trying to make me feel better, a slim ray of hope stayed in my head. Donnie was one smart cookie, and if anyone could figure out a seemingly unsolvable case, it would be him.

"Well, I guess you better get cracking then, mister." I sniffled and giggled slightly. "With this coat of fur I can bet money that the summer is going to suck."

"I'm on it," he replied and wheeled himself back over to one of the computer stations. "You can stay here and listen to me be all sciencey if you want, but I know the others are still in the dojo probably sparring with one another if you'd rather join them."

"Nah, I think I'll pass on that for right now," I trailed off as I stood up and stretched my body; even with my prior rest I still felt worn down. The thought of curling up in my bed and drowning out the rest of the world seemed like a great idea.

I walked out of the lab towards my room, welcoming the darkness when I crawled under the covers, curling up into a ball and pulling them up to my chin.

So I was made to be a fighting machine. Thinking back on my time in the gymnasium, and their precautions when it came to their guards it did make a bit of sense. I knew the destruction I could unleash on people, and it was a matter of time before the ticking time bomb exploded and hurt someone I cared for.

I numbly reached down below my bed and smiled when I felt the familiar bottle of vodka that had been stashed there what seemed like years ago. I had brought it down one night for the guys, but forgot to take it out to the common room. Since then I would take a swig now and again for those nights when I couldn't sleep. The bitter liquid burned as it worked its way down my throat to warm my belly, taking the edge off of my nerves.

Look what happened just a few minutes ago. I obviously didn't have any control over my own body, and I'm a danger to everyone here. Was there a way for me to get control over myself? Could that ever happen, or would I need to just squirrel myself away somewhere in a dark hole for the rest of my pathetic life?

Where would I go? How would I survive? I had nothing now. No money, no home, no career, no family…everything I had spent the last two and a half decades working for was gone. I rubbed my forehead in an attempt to rid itself of the growing headache and took another swig.

I just needed to get away. Away from the city, away from people, away from anyone I could hurt _before_ I could hurt them. Maybe I could find a way to live in upstate New York or something. Hell, I was a friggin _bear_ mutant now. Maybe I should just go find a forest or something and try to survive out there on my own.

The weight of the empty bottle fell from my hand as I reached up to rub my tired eyes. No, I was an idiot for thinking I could go all grizzly adams on my own. I'd be dead within a week.

Maybe I should talk to Splinter; he always had way more words of wisdom than my own dad. He might have an idea that could help.

I ignored the rumblings of my inner demons that continued to bubble to the surface and hugged my extra pillow close to me. I just wish this was all a bad dream. Maybe if I wake up I'll be back to normal in my own bed, just like before any of this happened.

I knew, though, that I'd never be that lucky.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

 _I was strapped to that damn table again, and Brad was in the room with my naked body. He smirked at me with lust in his eyes as his hand started at my foot and made its way up my leg._

 _No, no, not again. Please not again. Why was I back here, and why was I human again? Did I get turned back? Was being a mutant all a bad dream and I've been strapped to this damn table the entire time?_

 _I pulled desperately at my restraints and screamed out at him to leave me alone. I knew I tried to act all big and bad ass in the beginning, but he'd since broken me, and I couldn't take any more of his abuse. He cackled, his sound of his laughs penetrated into my soul as he caressed his way up. I just wanted to rip off each and every inch of skin he had touched, all of it disgusted me._

 _Pain ran through my body, causing it to jerk under my restraints. It felt like I was being flayed alive as fur began to sprout all over my body, my claws ripping through the ends of each of my fingernails and toenails, my teeth being pushed out forcefully as their razor sharp replacements took place. I don't know how long it actually took for the full transformation to take place, but it seemed like an eternity._

 _The sounds of my screams ripped through my head as my body pulled against the metal cuffs. They began to strain under the pressure and finally broke against the amount of force that was being exerted against them; my limbs flew up and over my head from the motion and I sat in shock momentarily._

 _Brad's smile was wiped away and he quickly tried to grab my wrists. The door to my exam room flew open and a dozen guards came in with crackling night sticks at the ready. Some of them had begun to jab at my body with their sticks while others tried to hold down my wrists. I fought against them as hard as I could, screaming at them to leave me alone, but my body was still in slight shock from the transformation that had just taken place._

"Elena! Elena, hey doll, it's ok," I heard a familiar voice ring through my flashback as I struggled against what I had thought were the guards holding me down.

"Yeah, E, we're here, you're safe," another voice came through as I suddenly realized where I was.

Raphael had a firm grip on my wrists while Mikey held my feet down as I laid on my bed.

Well, what was _left_ of my bed at least. The mattress was completely torn up and deep gouges marred the stone walls around me, similar to how my cell was at the lab. I had nightmares while I was there as well, and I constantly woke up to being covered in bits of concrete that I shredded from the walls as I dreamed.

"Oh my god," a shriek escaped me as I realized what I had done and quit resisting, "Are you two ok? I didn't get either of you did I?"

The other two brothers rushed the room; Donatello had what looked like a syringe in his hands. Raphael waved him down as he and Mikey let go of my limbs to let me sit up, "Nah, bro. She's ok now. We don't need that."

My eyebrows knitted in thought; that had to be a sedative of sorts, "How long was I…was I dreaming?"

"You'd been out for a good couple of hours," Raph said cautiously, maybe not knowing what could set me off. "But then you started screaming and thrashing around so Mikey and I…we, uh, had to hold you down so you wouldn't hurt yourself."

I lowered my eyes to the ground in embarrassment, "I…I'm sorry for putting all of you through this. You shouldn't have to deal with _this_ ," I motioned around the room at all the damage.

Raphael opened his arms and I leaned towards him so he could wrap them around me. I was shaking again, but that was probably the adrenaline from the nightmares since my heart still felt like it had just finished a marathon. I vaguely heard him quietly shushing me as I buried my head into him.

No one made a sound or moved an inch as we sat there for a few moments; I could feel them all staring, and I could tell they probably felt sorry for me.

"Elena," Leo's voice interrupted the silence, "We don't _deal_ with anything. You're our family, and family sticks together to help one another out."

I lifted my head ever so slightly so I could peer at all of them above Raph's arm. None of them looked frustrated or irritated at the situation; instead they each had concern and worry written all over each of their faces.

"Thanks guys," I admitted slightly from my position, "I guess it was kind of selfish of me to think I should take this on alone."

"There are benefits to having solitude," Splinter's voice crept in from the doorway. Leo and Donnie moved out of the way so we could all see the older rat. He must have heard all the commotion from his room. "But there are also benefits to be surrounded by family who care and would do anything to protect its members."

I nodded in appreciation of his wise words; he never steered any of the brothers in the wrong direction, so maybe he could be right about my situation as well.

"Now," he continued as he turned and walked out of the doorway, "if you are feeling well enough I'd like to speak with you for a few minutes. Though for your own comfort I'd suggest taking a hot shower and changing out of the clothes your captors provided you. It will help with our session." I had felt so instantly safe being home again that I hadn't thought to change out of the brown scrubs I had been tossed earlier that day of my rescue.

Raphael's arms loosened up slightly so I could sit up and I wrinkled my eyebrows in confusion. Session? What did he plan on having me do?

"Hey," Raph said quietly as the other brothers began exiting the room after their father, "Dad knows what he's doing, you don't have to be scared of anything."

"Yeah, I'm not scared of him, I'm scared of _me_ ," I sighed out in irritation as I slowly stood up and went over to the dresser that held some of my spare clothes I would keep after workouts. To be truthful a shower did sound good, though I hadn't had one since my transformation, so I didn't really know the logistics about what to expect.

Thoughts of a shaking dog trying to dry off crept into my head and half of me wanted to sigh and laugh at the same time.

I pulled out a tank top and pair of gym shorts I would have worn before transformation and held them up to my new size, laughing slightly.

"What's so funny?" his voice came from over near my bed. I turned around and showed him just how short they were against my taller and thicker figure.

"I, uh, may need to invest in some new clothes," I chuckled as I saw his reaction. He definitely didn't mind what they would look like on me I assumed, but he quickly shook the thoughts from his head and stood up quickly and nervously.

"Yeah, ok, so, uh…maybe we can get April to get your measurements and see what she can come up with," he stammered out, obviously embarrassed at his looks being caught. "And, uh, I think one of us may be able to find a shirt that will fit you a little better than that one."

I went into the bathroom and quickly steamed up the small area with the hot water that streamed to the floor of the shower. Even with my new physical features the water felt amazing as I sat under the scalding liquid. It felt like the weight of all my problems slowly began to swirl down the drain with the runoff shower water. There had only been a few times where I had been allowed to 'shower', but it had been nothing more of a hosing down with cold water, so the depths of my memories relished every single second of this.

In the beginning I wasn't provided any clothes, being looked at as merely an animal to be tamed. After the first few training sessions with the purple dragons I couldn't focus on anything except trying to get their blood off of my fur, sometimes even resorting to using the toilet water to help scrub the stains away if I had used the water provided with my daily meals. If I could say my captors actually had any sympathy it was then, because shortly afterwards they would slide in some scrubs every other day or so. It didn't help protect my arms and face from getting covered in blood, but it at least helped to lessen the time needed to remove it all.

The mirror was completely fogged once I finally reluctantly shut the water off. As much as I wanted to stay and attempt to run all the hot water out, I really didn't want to keep my second father waiting. I grabbed a towel and briskly rubbed it over my head and chest, clearing some of the water from my short fur. My paw wiped across the damp surface above the sink to clear all of the condensation, and I gasped as I finally got the first clear image of my new form.

Reaching up to touch each part of my face as I leaned forward to look at myself in the mirror. A tendril of steam caught my attention and I looked down and saw a vague shape under some of the lighter gray fur that covered some of my chest and stomach. My fingers reached up and separated some of the follicles, and a small smile crept across my face as I realized it was a familiar green and red shape that adorned the skin underneath.

Good, that bastard couldn't take _everything_ from me at least.

I kicked the remainder of the rags that had been provided to me into a pile in the corner of the bathroom before squeezing into the former workout clothes I had. Yeah, I'll definitely need to get April to find me something a bit more appropriate as these were tight as all hell. What once would have been a roomy tank top was barely considered a sports bra now, the dark gray fur a stark contrast to the lighter fabric. I couldn't even pull the shorts up over my more muscular thighs and had to make a small slice in the sides of each leg in order to pull them up all the way.

Ugh, and then there was the tail. Why the hell did I have a tail. There was no purpose in this one. It wasn't even like a cool monkey tail that could grab things. At least I had pretty much ten portable steak knives hidden in my hands at all time now, so making accommodations for the small nub was a pretty simple task.

A small knock interrupted my thoughts, and I slowly opened the door to see a large t-shirt being passed through the small opening.

"You might be able to use this until we can get some new clothes for you," a husky voice came from the other side. A small smile crept up to my face as I could imagine his possible expression to seeing what I wore at the moment, and flung open the door.

"Why? This won't do?" I giggled slightly as I saw the tinge of red quickly flush through his green skin. Raph quickly lowered the shirt to cover me from being visible to anyone else out in the lair as he used his large body to block the door.

If a turtle could turn red, he'd be as bright as a stop light. Ok, Elena, enough teasing. I grabbed the shirt from his hand, making sure I brushed my paw against his arm and was happy when he didn't pull away.

"Thanks, Raph, I'm sure the others will appreciate not being able to see the view," I purred out as I slipped the large shirt over my head. It came down and covered pretty much down to just above the length of my shorts, so at least I wouldn't feel totally naked around everyone.

But I was covered in fur. Would I technically _be_ naked if I didn't wear anything? My mind raced over the possibilities and just decided to go with what I was used to.

"I guess I shouldn't keep dad waiting then, should I…" I stated simply, dragging the turtle from his gaze. He slightly shook his head, maybe clearing it of whatever thoughts he was thinking, and he nodded in return.

He shifted slightly so I could squeeze past him, and I felt a gentle kiss on top of my head.

"You'll be fine, well, at least I _think_ you'll be," he chuckled slightly.

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence," I snorted out in response as I lightly poked his shoulder and walked over to Splinter's room.

To be honest, I had never actually been inside his room. Like _ever._ I'd known the turtles since I was around ten years old and had never known what existed beyond the door to his private chambers. I knocked hesitantly, but after not hearing any response slowly cracked the door open.

It was a modestly small area, with a simple bed, a nightstand next to a small armchair and an area for meditation. The tatami mat currently held the elder rat who was positioned for meditation; a small teapot with steam coming from its spout sat on a towel next to him with two small cups.

I tried being quiet as I opened the door, but I could still see his eyes open slightly to eye my entrance.

"Please, make yourself comfortable my child," he motioned for me to come join him on the mat. He quietly picked up the teapot and poured hot water over the tea leaves held in both cups as I knelt down next to him. Lovely scents of lavender and chamomile wafted up towards my newly sensitive nose, and I wrinkled it slightly in response to the strength of the smells.

"I imagine the transition from your former self into what you are now has been quite frustrating and overwhelming at times, am I correct?" his calm voice questioned, and held no hints of pity or sadness, but more a matter-of-factness.

I nodded slightly, "Yeah, my senses can get overloaded pretty easily now. Like even now it's like each and every strand of your fur stands out in high definition and I can smell that someone is eating a lamb gyro at that bus stop that's close to the entrance of the lair." I graciously took the warm cup and took a sip of the soothing liquid.

"At first I could hardly move it all was so overwhelming, like every smell drove a spike into my head, but I really wasn't given a whole lot of time to adjust before…" my words had trailed off as I remembered the first night of fighting came soon after I had fully transformed.

"Now I can, uh, kind of tune it out to where it's not so in my face, but just an annoyance in the background. Kind of like a buzzing mosquito that won't leave you alone."

The elder rat nodded as he sipped his tea, "I have heard that Donatello is researching to see if there is a way to reverse your current state?"

"I think so, he said there may be a way to change me back, but he hasn't found anything definitive yet."

He sat in silence for a few minutes; I could never get an accurate gauge on what went on in his mind. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he continued, "Even though my son has a brilliant mind, you may have to come to terms that your current state of affairs could be permanent."

My eyes stayed focused on the swirling liquid in my cup. I didn't want to admit it, but that very fear had constantly stayed with me since Donnie had mentioned a possible reversal. I agree, the turtle is the smartest individual I knew, but sometimes things just can't be undone.

A simple "I know" came out as a whisper from my mouth. I could feel his gaze on me, but couldn't muster up the courage to reciprocate towards him. His gentle hand placed itself on my shoulder and gave a slight squeeze.

"Everything happens for a reason, Elena. It is up to us to decide, however, how to continue with our existence. And from those choices, how they may shape and change everyone around us."

His hand gripped my shoulder a little harder as he closed his eyes in concentration and tilted his head as if listening to something.

"There is much anger inside you, isn't there." It was more of a statement than a question he posed.

"Anger? No, I'm fine right now. Very relaxed actually," I replied quietly, not quite understanding what he was talking about.

"Not at the current moment, but deep down; there are waves of a brewing storm near your soul." His brown eyes opened and stared hard into my own. "Do you constantly feel agitated and want to lash out?"

I could have sworn the loud clicking of blocks falling into place could have been heard throughout the lair. Ever since Brad did this to me I was constantly irritable. I figured it was just a side effect of, you know, being turned into a friggin _bear_ mutant thing.

Splinter could see the realization cross my face and patted my shoulder, "it seems some of your new traits are not just on the surface, my dear."

I didn't even realize the low grumble that escaped my throat had begun at the thought of my captor. It stopped instantly once I was aware of its existence and I put my hand over my mouth embarrassingly. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, I mean…I wasn't mad at you, it's just-"

"There is no need to apologize, I know you mean me and my sons no harm." He reached over to pour us both another cup of tea.

"How do I control this? There are times where just the simplest things can set me off, and I'm sure you've been kept up on my sleeping issues. I just don't want to _be_ this thing anymore." I wasn't going to even go into each time I was locked in the gym with those purple dragon recruits. There were many times where I woke up later after blacking out and never remembering what exactly happened but covered in blood. I only realized I must have killed everyone, otherwise I wouldn't have still lived myself.

"Like we've discussed, a reversal may not be an option," he blew on the hot liquid to cool it down. "I will have to teach you how to harness the beast within. You will begin training with Leonardo in the dojo once again."

"Um…" okay, now I was thoroughly confused, "isn't that the exact _opposite_ of what we should be doing? Let's take an angry bear and poke her to piss her off. I don't know if that's the best idea…"

"It is through training and constant irritations that will allow you to stay in control of your inner battles," he said calmly as he motioned for me to sip on my tea. "Once you are able to recognize these irritants and threats that will allow you to begin to learn how to counteract them and not let them overwhelm you."

Maybe that made sense, but I didn't like the idea of having to train and fight any of the brothers. It was always fun _before_ I was this thing, but now I was faster, stronger, and had lots of pointy things that could do lots of damage. He could sense my hesitation and smiled, "Do not worry about my sons, they are capable fighters. If nothing else this may give them some new difficulties to overcome as well in order to adapt their skills."

He tilted the cup to finish the tea it held, "I would also like you to come and visit me once a day so that we may meditate." He saw the displeased frown that instantly crossed my face and gave a small laugh. "You react to that word in ways similar to Raphael. It would benefit you to know how to calm down during those times that trouble you."

I could feel my shoulders slump in a slight defeat. Fine, I didn't want to meditate, but I could understand the reasoning behind it. Doesn't mean I was ever going to like sitting still for so long though.

"Splinter," my voice was relatively quiet compared to all the loud thoughts and flashes of memories echoing through my head, "Will this actually work? Will I ever be safe around y'all? I was seriously debating just going out of town and living far away from civilization. I just don't want to…I just don't want to hurt anyone else."

The elder rat was quiet as he cleared the cups and teapot from the mat and motioned for me to mimic the sitting position he returned to.

"I doubt any of my sons would agree that total isolation to your predicament would be the best option. I especially see the bond you have with each and every one of them, and it is those bonds that will help you through this."

I hoped the fur that covered me also covered the slight blush that flooded my face. Of course he would pick up on a bond I had with a certain red masked individual.

"This new form, it is a part of who you are now, but _you_ are the one in control. Never forget that." His words did calm me down a bit. If he believed in me, maybe I should have more faith in myself?

"Now," he whispered lightly as only one of his eyes opened and peered at me, making sure I was paying attention, "let us begin."


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

A resounding _thwack_ echoed throughout the dojo as a knife implanted itself within an inch of the eldest turtle's head, and a small smile crept across his face as he turned towards where I stood across the room. We had trained exclusively over the past few weeks, and I was proud to admit that it felt _good_ to be honing my skills, especially after realizing just what my new abilities granted me. I was much faster, much stronger, and with my newfound senses hadn't been successfully snuck up on by any of the brothers yet.

What I gained in brute strength and genes did not compare to the brothers' years upon years of ninjitsu training though, so we were equally matched in many ways.

"Much better, Elena," Leonardo praised as I walked over to him and retrieved the daggers from the wall behind him. "Your aim has become much sharper."

I giggled slightly and pointed to the dagger that was stuck in the wall next to his head, and his eyes opened wide when he realized the tail end of his bandana had been struck by the blade. I grabbed the hilt and pulled hard to release the dagger before replacing it in the sheathes that were strapped to my thighs. For extra emphasis to what I had just done to him I blew a small breath on the end of the blade as if it were a smoking gun.

"That's one way to put it I think," I laughed as I watched his unamused reaction; he didn't like it that Raphael and I shared the same tendency to get cocky when we did something awesome. I had been trying to temper down that part of my personality out of respect for the older brother, but it was a constant battle.

"We'll work more tomorrow on your fighting techniques, and I think I'll bring in Michelangelo to help spar with us as well. It'd be good for you to start dealing with other styles and having more than one attacker."

I nodded in agreement, "That sounds good Leo. Thank you again for everything you've been doing to help me." I tried to thank him at _least_ once a day since he and I had been spending an enormous amount of time in the dojo. He was a wonderful teacher, and I realized I had really taken advantage of the whole situation when I was training prior to my transformation. Back then I thought it would be so cool to learn how to fight, but now it had become more of a necessity and helped to guarantee my survival in the time to come.

He placed his hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, "Like always, it's never a problem. I'm glad I can help you learn how to use your abilities as well as keep your cool in a fight. Now adding Mikey to the mix… _that_ will be a whole other ballgame. He knows what buttons to push and how hard to push them. Watching him and Raph spar is always quite amusing."

I could imagine. I inwardly loved when Mikey poked fun at his red masked brother, and thought it was adorable when he got irritated at the younger sibling. Though I would never actually admit that to his face.

A sharp pain at the base of my skull flared up and I rubbed at the offending spot irritably in an attempt to make it go away. "Has it come back again? That makes the fourth time this week."

"Yeah, it comes and goes pretty fast. It's just more irritating than anything else," I replied quietly as the pain quickly began to wane.

"Well, we can get Donatello to look at it again when we get back this evening after our patrol. Maybe it's something as simple as us needing to stretch more or focus on specific muscle groups," he talked as he held the door open for me, "Better to be safe than sorry, right?"

Leo and I walked out of the dojo and made our way to the kitchen and living room where I saw the other three had already congregated in preparation for their nightly run. It was then that I realized just how much time had passed since we started training that afternoon; today it had been over four hours in the dojo, and I still hardly felt winded.

"Hey there angelcakes! You going with us tonight?" Mikey called out excitedly as he saw me and Leo approach, "It would make it _way_ more interesting than dealing with these party poopers."

My hands went up in a mock surrender as I smiled big at him, "No, I think I'll have to pass for tonight. Maybe another time though, ok?" His smiled deflated slightly, but he nodded and gave me a high five as he passed to go into the kitchen for his pre-patrol snack.

"He bore you too much in the dojo?" Raph's deep voice got my attention, and I saw him grin somewhat as he looked to see what his elder brother's reaction may be.

I playfully hit his shoulder as he whirled around behind me to grab my hips and pull me close. I was closer to his height now so he didn't have to lean far down to rest his chin on my shoulder as my hands crossed to rest upon his arms as we hugged.

"Ewwww, c'mon, get a room, would ya?" Mikey mumbled as he walked back over to where Donnie was packing his bag, his mouth full of food.

"Are we ready to head out? The sun just set, so the earlier we go the more time we have out there," Leo piped in effectively cutting off the banter between the brothers. The lab that held me mysteriously shut down overnight, so since my escape the brothers had gone out each night to try and gain any information on where Brad and his operation had gone to.

"Yeah, packing up the last bits of tech now. I hacked into the city's camera system and pinpointed a few areas on the GPS we may want to check out," Donnie responded, closing his backpack. He ignored Mikey's quips about 'big brother's watching ya' and brought out his ipad that held a map with probable locations on both sides of the city. "We'd save a ton of time traversing if we split up into two groups."

I could see the sour look start to show on Leo's face. He always hated when the brothers had to split up for any reason. Even though they all were highly trained ninjas, they were still his brothers, and he felt like he always had to have their backs. If they split up he couldn't do that as well.

"If we don't we could still hit all the places, it just may take a few days," the purple masked brother mentioned quietly, noticing the expression on his older brother's face as well.

"We'll be fine Leo, we always are," I could hear Raph's voice next to my ear as he stood up. "Besides, some of those spots are close to some good food trucks. I totally call dibs on those."

"Fine," Leo responded after a few extra moments of thought, "Raph, you take Mikey with you and cover the south side while Donnie and I cover the north. Radios are to stay open at all times, do you understand?"

"I gotta babysit Mikey now too? Damn, what a way to ruin a good time," he chuckled as Mikey's grunt of disproval rang clear. "Fine, let's get going numbskull so we can get back."

The youngest shoved the last of his sandwich into his mouth as he double checked to make sure he had everything needed and punched his palm in anticipation.

The warmth from behind me pulled away and I instantly wanted it back. Instead I walked over to lean against the counter as I watched Raph grab a couple clothing items and stuff them into a small bag he carried. Leo and Don said their goodbyes and headed out on their run.

"Good, all the fuddy duddies are gone, now we can have some fun!" the youngest laughed break danced to an imaginary song; I couldn't help but join his laughter.

"C'mon Mikey, you know Leo's probably going to use Don to spy on us somehow, so he'll know if we screw around…oh yeah, which means…" he twisted a knob on the radio sitting on his shoulder. "Sorry supreme leader, I almost forgot to check in for our bi-minute updates."

"Can you two be serious for once please?" an exasperated Leonardo sounded off.

"Fine, fine, fine. We're heading out in just a minute," he responded irritably and reached up to mute the device as he came over to where I stood. "He doesn't need to hear _every_ thing I do or say," he whispered as he leaned down to kiss my forehead.

"You gonna be okay doll? I can always stay if you need me t-"

"No, I'll be fine," I placed my hand on his plastron, interrupting him. "I don't want y'all to start shirking your duties more because of me. Besides, that bastard needs to be found."

Our eyes locked and we stayed still for a moment as we looked at each other. Finally, he reached and patted the small pouch that held his cell, "OK, just don't forget to text me if you need me, ok? I'll be back as fast as a pizza gets eaten here."

I could feel the small bulge of my own phone in my pocket. We had taken to texting each other during their runs, and on a few occasions he felt the need to return early because of my anxiety attacks. I nodded hesitantly, but felt warmth as he wrapped his arms around me to pull me close in a hug.

"We won't be gone long. Unlike Leo and Don, who are boring and running, Mikey and I will take the bike tonight and be back before you know it." We both ignored the shouts of excitement as the youngest began traversing up to the garage as we kissed briefly.

Then they were gone. As much as I appreciated the time when all the brothers were here and making me laugh, I did enjoy the time alone as well. Splinter didn't bother me much, and we continued to meditate daily together. In his advancing age he tended to stay in his room for longer periods of time in a deep meditation, so instead of seeking his company I decided to go ahead and shower off from my workout.

I discovered quickly it was more of a routine thing than a necessity now. Those first few days I had been here I didn't need to shower daily like I used to, but the act of it was still very comforting and soothing. And those days when the demons persisted I my memories it helped to drown out the sound of my tears as I curled up on the floor. The feel of warm water cascading down my body was similar to that first sip of chicken noodle soup when you didn't feel good. It tended to soothe and relax me after stressful times or after I awoke from my nightmares.

I wrapped myself up in towels and headed back to my room to change. April indeed hooked me up and had a bunch of clothes altered to fit me in an attempt to make me feel somewhat normal again. Everything she got was form fitting, not too much to make it uncomfortable, but not too loose to where it would get in the way during training.

My favorite out of all of them was a pair of snug jeans that stretched enough so I could still move around easily. I always wore a belt that contained the sheathes for the kunais I held on my thighs, and a tank top. I did have a jacket that had a lot of pouches and hidden pockets inside, and I wonder if she secretly worked with the brothers to have everything custom made, because these were definitely not things you could just pick up off the rack at Macy's.

I slipped on the pair of boots that were larger so my weird paws had room to wiggle, and it always felt good once I was fully dressed.

I felt almost human. Almost.

While making some leftovers I grabbed a beer from the fridge and plopped down on the sofa to turn the television on. There really wasn't anything interesting on prime time, so I grabbed my playstation remote and turned the system on; _conveniently_ it was one of the things Mikey grabbed when the boys went to my apartment after my disappearance.

A few hours passed quickly as I obliterated fellow gamers in the first person shooter game I played; faster reflexes definitely helped and I was curious to see how Mikey would react to a game against me. I'd totally murder him now.

My phone pinged with a text message alerting me to the fact that Raph and Mikey were indeed done with their patrol and heading back; sounded like the points of interest for them weren't all that interesting.

Ping. Another message. _Want to go with me topside tonight?_

I frowned at the message and replied back that I'd rather not leave the lair. This was my safe place and I really didn't want to see how the world was working above the streets anymore. I was afraid that if I saw how everything seemed to continue on I'd feel sad about having to leave that part of my life.

Moments passed before his reply came in. _We didn't bust you out of a prison cell to stay cooped up in another one. We won't go far and we won't have my brothers to deal with._

I stared at the screen for a few minutes, contemplating his words. I didn't consider my new home a prison cell by any means, but I guess I could see his point of view.

Fine, I would go, I responded, but not for a long time. He said to meet him up by the garage in a few minutes and I would switch out with Mikey. I got up to stretch and grab my jacket before I stood by the exit that led to the garage.

This was it. After all the bullshit I'd been through the past few weeks and months I'd be back out in the normal world. The world had continued to revolve as standard while mine had been ripped apart at the seams.

My heart beat quickly in my chest and I finally told it to chill the hell out before gathering the courage to exit the lair, my safe place, and make my way up to the garage. It looked the same as it had always looked, and I let go a breath I didn't know I had been holding.

Baby steps, Elena. Baby steps.

I saw my helmet hanging on the wall by everyone else's and plucked it from the hanger before turning it over in my hands. There would be no way this thing would fit now, and I felt saddened at hardly getting to use it before my disappearance.

The sound of the garage door opening startled me, and I nearly dropped the helmet as I gasped at the loud rumble of Raphael's motorcycle gliding into the large area. Mikey jumped off the back of the bike excitedly and took off his helmet to put on the wall. "That's sooooo much better than running along rooftops! We still need to convince Leo to let us all have one so we can be like a cavalry of bikes."

I couldn't make out what their eldest brother replied over the radio, but it didn't sound promising. "Yeah, well I _know_ they're not quiet, but it'd still be awesome!" The youngest removed the device from his shoulder and twisted the knob off, Raph doing the same as he continued to straddle the bike. He flung his set at Mikey and told him to take it back with him.

"Ready babe? There's still a couple food trucks open where we're headed, and trying to ignore _that_ idiot on my back definitely builds an appetite."

"Yeah, I uh…" I turned the helmet over in my hands, "I might need a different one of these though."

He smiled smugly and pointed to the wall behind me, back to the rack of helmets. I turned to look and then noticed an exact copy of the one in my hands, albeit a bit larger. It was the same basic shape, with the same details, though the front had been reshaped to accommodate my new facial features.

"It even has room inside for those things," he pointed to my ears on the top of my head. "Donnie and I had to get creative to adjust everything for you, but I'm hoping it fits like a glove… _which_ by the way, here you go." He pulled a pair of gloves from his pouch and tossed them at me. "Between those and what you're wearing you don't need to put on all this extra shit like I do," he motioned to his trenchcoat.

" _And_ you can still order tacos while wearing your helmet if you want. There's no need to open the visor to talk because nerd boy put some sort of voice enhancer in that thing," he beamed proudly at covering every single detail of why I felt I couldn't go topside. Pretty much I could walk around like the brothers did if they needed to interact above ground.

"Don't say anything, I don't want you to get weepy and all that girl crap," he chuckled, "Now let's get going before they all pack up for the night. _That'll_ make you cry."

I pushed back all the emotions that had been bubbling on the surface, sadness replaced with surprise that had now been swapped for love and warmth, and ran over to jump on the bike behind him. I popped down the helmet on my head and closed the visor; sure enough there was plenty of room for my ears and snout. This was perfect.

I clutched the back of Raphael's shell tightly as he made the motorcycle roar loudly back to life and exited the garage. It was springtime now, but the middle of the evenings could still get a little chilly, so I was glad to have my jacket.

Now summertime, though, that might suck. But for now I relished in the feeling of the chilly wind whipping around our forms as we weaved in and out of traffic. Sad to hear from Donnie that I didn't have any kind of bird genes in me because I could swear this might be as close as I could feel to the utter freedom of flight.

Maybe coming out tonight wasn't such a bad idea.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

"Okay, okay, so _maybe_ you were right. This isn't so bad up here…"

I smiled inwardly at Elena's confession. She had been super hesitant at first upon leaving the garage, and I had felt her cling hard to my shell as we darted in and out of traffic. It took a few minutes, but she let up a bit and got back into our rhythm of zigs and zags. I thought she would have a panic attack the moment we stopped at the park right near the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, but I reminded her I was there and she seemed to calm down. She even grew a pair and ordered the food for us, since I was covered in my tent of a trenchcoat and hat.

After we got our food I had her follow me over to an entrance I had discovered to the bridge awhile back. Well, not a _typical_ entrance per se, but easy enough for someone like us with our training. She seemed hesitant at first, but I knew she could handle the ascent up to the top as easy as I could. And I was right; she even held her soda cup in one hand as we jumped and climbed up to the top of the tower.

As much as Mikey could cook, there really wasn't any comparison to food trucks. And the amount of silence without him as we munched on our food.

"Yeah, I like to come up here a lot. It'd be a lot better without smelling that fish in your tacos though. Must be a bear thing," I poked fun at her a little and was glad when she reached over and playfully punched my shoulder. Well, even playfully it still hurt, but I feigned injury to get her to laugh.

"You're such a bastard, you know that?" she laughed as she shoved another fish taco into her mouth. "You know I've always like fish tacos even _before_ all of this," she used her hands to motion all over herself.

"Yeah, but back then you only ate a couple…now you eat as much as I do, so I have to smell it longer," I followed suit and swallowed down another one of my own tacos. "I could pick on you back then and not get worried about being knocked off a bridge tower."

The sound of her laughter echoed around us and made me smile. I was glad she was having a good time. The past few weeks with her in the lair had been rough, not only for her, but for each one of us adjusting to her. And that didn't even include all the bullshit fuckford put her through in the lab before that. I swear if I ever saw that little twerp ever again he would wish he had never been born.

How he could torture and mutilate someone he claimed he cared about was beyond me. Sure, I knew all he wanted her for was for who her dad was and where that could get him, but there's a special type of sicko who would go to the degree he had. I don't even think Baxter would have stooped to the levels of his son. And Baxter was a nutcase in and of himself.

Yeah, each night the past few weeks had been rough. Each and every time she went to sleep she'd wake up screaming from her nightmares. We'd had to replace her mattress a couple of times already because she'd shred them with her claws as she thrashed around. Mikey and I went in there each night those first two weeks to snap her out it, and then she'd cry into my plastron for a bit while he left to try and get a couple extra hours of rest. She actually swiped us a couple of times, and there were a couple times I needed to have Leo and Donnie help us as well, but thankfully we were able to hide those marks from her.

This past week I'd taken to just laying down with her after each nightmare, letting her curl herself into me and I holding her protectively until she fell back asleep in my arms. Those times she'd finally sleep soundly, not hardly moving as I kept a watch next to her. I'd wake up sometimes and she'd be up and about in the living room, as if nothing had happened, but looking slightly more refreshed after getting a few good hours of dreamless sleep.

"Hellooooo? Raph?" the strong smell of fish invaded my nose as I realized she was blowing her breath into my face in order to get my attention.

"Ugh!" I pretended to have smelled rotten garbage and waved my hand to get rid of the smell, "You know you're evil at times, right?"

She smiled and kneeled down to sit on her legs, "Well, _you_ were the one all zoned out for a minute there. What else did you expect me to do?"

"You coulda poked me or something," I mumbled as I reached for my last taco, only to find my bag empty. I opened it more to look inside, and sure enough, it was gone.

"Yeah, I did. I even ate your last taco _right in front of your face_ and you still did nothing. What were you thinking about?"

She screamed in laughter as I poked her hard enough in the shoulder to make her tip over off her legs. Before she could react I grabbed the soda and sucked down the last few sips in retaliation. I ignored her protests and made sure to toss the empty cup right back in her hands.

"I was totally right…you _are_ a bastard," she squeaked out as she opened the lid to inspect the cup's empty contents.

"Says the woman who ate my _last taco_ ," I snorted back, "There are just some things you don't do to a turtle."

She smiled from ear to ear as she sighed and leaned against my side so I could put my arm around her shoulders. "I guess it's a good thing we're not normal people then, right? Normal people couldn't eat food up on top of the Brooklyn Bridge like this…"

I could feel her lean her head over onto my shoulder, and I could feel a slight heat rise through me. I'd be lying if I said I didn't like it when she wanted to sit close to me like this, or even when I had to comfort her. Any chance I got to be near her I loved, and I dared any of my brothers to call me out on it. I knew they made faces we couldn't see behind our backs, and they joked about me getting soft and whatnot, but they knew better than to do it in front of either of us.

You know, I even felt bad for Mikey for a bit once she and I both realized there was something between us. I mean, the turtle pined over Elena for years when we were kids, and I felt guilty that I might have taken these kinds of feelings away from him. But he'd assured me he only felt for her like a sister now. The two of them had a close relationship that I know I could never understand.

"See? You're doing it again," I heard her voice echo through my head. I shook my head slightly to clear my thoughts and brought my hand up to scratch behind her ears. That had quickly become a calming technique for her and as much as she hated the idea of "being like a dog" she sure didn't pull away when I did it.

"Normal's boring and for chumps," I mumbled as I felt her melt into my side. "All squishy and breakable…"

"Oh, so that's all you used to think of me when we were young?" she joked lightly as she used her fingers to make quotation marks for emphasis, " _squishy and breakable_?"

I couldn't help but snort at her response, "Nah, I just thought you were crazy for wanting to spend your extra time with a bunch of mutant freaks down in the _sewer_ of all places. Most normal people would have screamed and ran the opposite direction. You? You practically flung yourself at us."

"Eh, I didn't see y'all as freaks," she reached over to grab my free hand to hold. "Yeah, you looked different, but you're still people who deserved a chance." I had to admit the idea of E having a furry paw placed inside my gigantic mitt never would have crossed me as normal…until now.

"I wonder if there will ever be a time where people like us would be accepted in normal society," her small voice interrupted the silence that had settled. "I never really _understood_ how you guys could feel about it until now."

"Eh, you get used to it after awhile," I closed my hand around hers and rubbed my thumb across her fur. "I used to be angry a lot when I was younger, like maybe we should _make_ them accept us, but after all we've been through I'm just happy where I am. You can't force people to change."

I heard a small chuckle under my chin, "I never thought I'd hear you of all people be so… _logical_ and all."

She pulled away from me and I felt the cool spring night air fill the space she had occupied, "Yeah, well don't go blabbing it to everyone. I got a reputation to uphold ya know." I brought both of my hands up behind my head as I stretched and leaned back against small wall of the tower. E stood up and walked over to the edge of the platform we stood on, looking out over the city.

So yeah, she didn't look like she used to, but she was still super hot in my opinion. And it sounded cliché, but I knew who she was inside as well, so there's that too. Even though she was almost my size she was still really lean, but built solidly. Leo had told me a few times from their training that it was like punching a brick wall.

A small gust of wind made small patterns in her fur, causing her to wrap her chilled arms around herself. I stood up and walked up behind her, wrapping and resting my arms on top of hers before leaning down to put my chin in the crook of her neck and shoulder. We stood there in silence for what seemed like forever, though it couldn't have been more than a couple minutes.

"I wish I could see my family again," she said at barely a whisper. Had I not been so close to her face I probably wouldn't have heard it. "I miss them so much…"

"I know you do, but you heard what fearless said…they all think you're dead and buried," I gently told her. She hadn't made any mention of her family since she had woken up that first night, so I was kind of surprised she had even brought it up.

I could feel her arms tighten around herself a bit more, "I know, but I've thought about them constantly since you guys found me. I just wondered if they would ever accept something like me."

"I dunno, there's no telling. But just from our experience not many people understand or choose to open their dense heads to understand what else is out there. Even some of the cops that saw us still kept their hands on their guns like they expected us to turn on them." I felt her hand clench down on my arm. "I just don't want you to get hurt. You could try, but they may not react…um, _quite_ the way you want."

"Yeah, because I'm some sort of mutant freak now," her tone turned sarcastic, "I'm just damaged goods now and can never have a normal life anymore. No one's going to want me, and I'm just a danger to be around."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I replied gently as I felt her tense slightly after voicing her thoughts. I stood up straight and turned her around to face me. She didn't look at me, so I reached down with one finger and tipped her face upwards.

"Hey, doll…look at me," her eyes were defiant at first, but she slowly looked at mine. "I don't know where you're gettin these ideas, but you are _not_ damaged goods. You're still _you_. Yeah, you may be furry, and could use a scratching post now, but you're still the Elena we grew up with."

I poked her heart lightly, "What's in _here_ is what matters."

She pulled back away from my arms and glared at me, "No, Raphael, _look_ at me and tell me I'm not a danger to everyone around me. Yeah, I've done training with Leo, but that's just shown me just how dangerous I can be. The meditation Splinter's shown me has only helped _slightly_ in the sense that I haven't outright attacked any of y'all yet."

She flicked her claws out and let the moonlight shine on their sharp points, "but at the base of it all is that I was created to _hurt_ things, and it's only a matter of time before it's one of you guys; I couldn't live with myself if that happened. I don't even know why you guys put up with all this frustration just to keep a killing machine in your home. I could literally snap at any moment."

I hated when she downed herself like this; she was so much more and couldn't even see it because she hated herself. "We do all this because we love you. _I_ love you dammit!" I couldn't stop myself from blurting out. Damn, I wasn't planning on letting her know that for awhile until things started to settle down more.

Elena stopped in her tracks and just stared at me. I couldn't make out her reaction at first, but it quickly turned to anger as she frowned.

"No," she stated harshly, "No, you are _not_ allowed to say that," her hands went to her hips.

"You can't just sit there and drop a bombshell like that on me, Raph," she spat out as she began to pace back and forth.

I frowned at her reaction. Hell, you think she'd be happy that she's accepted and loved by more than just me. "What else am I supposed to say? _Oh, you're right and you should just go away_? Well sorry, babe, but I can't."

"Yes you can!" she shouted back at me, coming up to poke my plastron hard, "If you know what's right you would have run away a _long_ time ago. Hell, you should have just let me rot in that cell. It was the safest place for everyone. I'm-"

"Oh _fuck_ no," I spat back. That was it, I wasn't going to sugar coat anything with her now. "You have _no_ idea what the hell my brothers and I went through those _four fucking months_ you were gone. I know you went through hell and back too, and everyday I wish it would have been me in your place instead. Do you have any fucking clue to what _we've_ been through? Thinking every day that you were dead somewhere and that I let you down? No, you don't!"

She stopped slightly, but still held the frown on her face as it was my turn to start pacing and bitching, "We hardly slept or ate, all of our time when we _were_ coherent were trying to find ways to locate you, to find and rescue you out of wherever shithole the foot had taken you."

"I had nightmares every night of you being dragged to that van, and me being fucking _helpless_ to protect you. Hell, I _still_ have them, but I'd much rather help you through your issues than deal with my own!" I didn't even realize I was spouting off all of this, I was too pissed off at the moment to stop myself.

"And when we _do_ find you, we find dickford had turned you into…into _this_!" I motioned at her with my hands. I didn't mean for it to sound as harsh as it did, but I had always had an issue with filtering the thoughts to my mouth when I was pissed off. "And you know what? Instead of shying away in terror we grabbed you and got the fuck outta there. Because that's what you do for someone you _love_. You work through everything _together_."

Silence settled around us save for my heavy breathing at being so pissed off. E's hands had crossed over on her chest and provided a small barrier of protection from the truth I had spouted at her. "No matter what you are, Elena, I'm always gonna love ya. I just wish you could see in you what I do." I finally confessed lightly.

I could see the slight shimmer of tears threaten to spill from her lashes as the thoughts whirled through her head. She snarled and shook them away as she took a step back towards the ledge.

"No, no Raph, I can't drag you down to where I'm at right now," she spoke resolutely after a few tense moments. "I can't push all these issues onto you and your brothers when you all have so many of your own." She waved her hand over her head, "I've got all this shit wrong with me, and I can't…I can't give you what you deserve…"

I wanted to laugh, but I refrained. Had she _seen_ what we were? I didn't _deserve_ anything. I made a slight shift towards her, but she jerked away and balanced on the edge of the ledge.

"I…I gotta go." The words barely registered in my ears they were so quiet. Before I could protest she dropped off the ledge and landed on the tension wire that ran all the way down to the bridge.

"Dammit, Elena! Come back!" My words fell on deaf ears as I ran over and leapt off the platform. In just a few seconds she had already descended halfway down the wire. Damn she was fast.

I pushed myself as hard as I could go, but I knew I wouldn't win a foot race with her. Instead of getting to the end of the wire like she did I jumped down to the pedestrian walkway from above in an attempt to cut her off.

Her eyes were wide like a deer being stared down by a pack of hungry wolves. She hesitated for a moment, but instead jumped over the railing and ran across the horizontal support beams that covered the roadway. I ran parallel to her on the pedestrian walkway, but even with the extra obstacles in her way she was still faster. I began to wonder if nerd boy was wrong and she was actually part cheetah.

My legs wouldn't go any faster, and all I could do was curse as she made it to the end of the bridge well ahead of me. Without hesitation she scaled the nearest fire escape and began using two of them between buildings as springboards.

There was no way in hell I was going to keep up, but that didn't keep me from trying. I launched myself onto the metal ladder and it creaked under my weight. I scrambled up to the top of the building and panted as I looked all around me; not seeing her anywhere.

"Elena!" I screamed into the night air, though I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that she was out of hearing by now.

"GOD DAMMIT!" I bellowed as I punched the wall next to the roof access door. I ignored the pain that shot through my knuckles as I took out my anger on the bricks.

There had to be a way to track her, without her helmet to hide her face there were bound to be reports of a bear or something running through the city. Donnie could track that. Yeah, that would work. I needed to get back to the lair. He'd be able to find her.

I began making my way back to the motorcycle as I berated myself internally. Of course this shit was my fault. I forced her to come out against her will and freaked her out. I was such a fucking fool.

My body was on autopilot as I made it back to the lair in record time, hardly even turning off the bike before I ran from the garage and through the path that led to home. Mikey was lounging on the couch watching TV as I pushed the door open and ran to the lab; I ignored his confused look and questions.

It looked like Donnie and Leo had just gotten back from their run as nerd boy was unpacking his bag. "Hey Raph, how did it go? Mikey said you and Elena went to get her some fresh air-" he stopped as he saw my look and I saw his gaze briefly scan my hands. "Um…what happened?"

"I'm not going into details, but I need you to help me find her, Don," I said quickly, ignoring his looks as I walked over to one of his computers. "Start looking through all the cameras or whatever weird big brother spy type shit you do."

"Well, it's not as easy as you make it sound like," he stated simply as he took a seat in front of the computer console, "there's a ton of parameters you have to enter in, and don't forget to take into account the thousands of cameras that are in the city. There's sidewalk cameras, ATM cameras, and-"

"Dammit, Donnie, just start looking!"

"What's the issue?" Mikey's head poked in through the opening, "Where's Elena?"

"Not right now Mikey," I growled out as I watched my brother's fingers dance over the keyboard typing in some weird sort of code. I glanced over and saw the stern look cross Mikey's face; he hardly ever looked like that so I knew I'd have to give a brief explanation. "Look, we had an argument and she ran off. I'm just trying to find her."

"Seriously?" he sighed as he took a spot behind Donnie's other side, "Her first time out in the real world again and you _argue_? She doesn't have anywhere to go…not right now…"

"You don't think I don't know that?" I barked back as I raked my fingers irritably down my face. Sometimes I just wanted to punch him in the face.

"Ok, you two," D interrupted us, "either you guys can shut the hell up, or take your petty argument outside." His voice was stern as he continued typing. "This isn't as simple as a point-and-click search, I have some damn near impossible code to create to try and find someone with her features. It's not an instant thing either, so be quiet because I need to concentrate!" It was rare that Donatello blew up at us, but when he did we knew he was serious.

Mikey and I both flopped down in nearby chairs as the echoes of his typing resonated throughout the room. Leo and dad must've heard the commotion because they both poked their heads through the lab door, but saw the silent standoff that was taking place, so felt it better to stay out of it. I could feel the judging look coming from my older brother and just rolled my eyes back at him. I knew he'd probably try to reprimand me for some stupid shit later on.

I didn't care about any of that right now though. I knew better than to disturb Donnie as he continued typing and beginning some small searches through the city's cameras. Time passed achingly slow, but around the four in the morning he stopped typing and leaned back in his chair, flexing his sore fingers.

"There, that's all I can do for now," he finally said as he rubbed his knuckles. "I've gotten linked into all of the police scanners and have search protocols set up to alert me to anything that could describe her new features, i.e. if someone sees a bear or anything large and furry running through the streets. I'm also connected into most bank cameras and have even hacked into the larger businesses that are prone to having surveillance cameras as well."

"So, how long will all of this take?" I sighed as I rubbed my tired eyes. She had already been on her own for a couple hours now and there was only a couple more until sunrise.

"It varies," he shrugged. "You also have to factor in if she's being careless enough to be caught on camera now. She may not be just running randomly through the city. If she were then something would have already pinged for us."

Ugh…this was so friggin frustrating. I already felt like shit for what happened, but the thought of her having to hide somewhere come daylight made it that much worse.

"We may just have to wait until she decides to come back on her own," Don said gently.

"Yeah, if Raph didn't piss her off enough to stay away," Mikey sneered from over in the corner. He had been quiet this entire time, which was totally out of character for him. But I guess when it came to Elena he had to be her protector. Even if it was from me.

I felt a buzz near my belt and realized it was my cell. I glanced down and saw it was Elena's number. Wait, did she have her cellphone on her this whole time? Jesus we were all idiots. D started complaining in the background when he saw the number and started going on and on about how much time I could have save him; I left him to bitch in the lab while I slid in the bar on the screen to answer the call.

"Elena? Where are ya? Are you OK? Are you hurt?" I spoke quickly as I answered the call. There were a few moments of silence before an unfamiliar female voice came through the line.

"Um, is this Raphael?" the voice questioned. Who the hell was that? "Hello? Raphael?" it said again as I realized I had been focused on trying to identify the caller.

"Yeah, that's me. Who's this? Where's Elena?" I demanded.

"She's ok, she's here in my house," the voice responded. "This is Anya, her sister."


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

No matter how much someone can sneak around, ninja or not, when it's the dead of night things always tend to sound much louder than they normally would. I sat and watched the tiny backyard from my position in the alleyway, scoping the address out in case this chick claiming to be Elena's sister actually wasn't.

She sounded way too calm in my opinion when I spoke with her on the phone, saying that Elena was safe, but passed out on her couch. She had searched through her sister's phone and saw my name as the last person she had messaged, so decided to give me a call and let me know she was ok.

Even Donnie smacked himself for not asking me if she had her phone on her or not. I'm sure I'd get a decent lecture from him later. I guess it just goes to show you that even smart people are stupid sometimes. Nah, I had to give him some credit. We all tend to start thinking of the worst possible situations, so simple things could fly by our heads sometimes.

Anyway, this chick had given me her address and said she'd watch over E until I got there. The place was a decent distance from the bridge, but judging by just how fast Elena could move now I figured it wouldn't have taken her long.

I scaled over the short fence, not wanting to risk any noise from the gate creaking, and walked up to the back door on the porch. The light was off, but I could see inside lamps on through the curtains. I lightly knocked on the metal storm door and jumped back a few feet as I heard loud barking from further inside the townhouse.

"Dammit! Will you two shut the hell up!" I could hear the same voice from earlier scold the dogs as she walked towards the back door, the sounds of their paws following her as her figure turned the corner.

"Sit _down_ , you idjits!" the girl hissed out as she reached the door, unlocking it and flipping the light on. I took another step towards the shadows as she opened the wooden door on her side and squinted into the backyard.

"Who's there? Um, is that you Raphael?" she questioned lightly as she held her hand above her eyes to shield them from the outdoor light.

"Um, yeah, it's me. Could you turn the light off though? Lots of windows nearby."

"Oh yeah, sure," she apologized as she flipped the switch off, bathing the area in darkness once more. "Sorry, I didn't realize you would show up at my back door, too."

I could hear the deep rumbles of growling from the two as I stepped out from the shadows and into the small pool of light that escaped from inside onto the back porch. Her eyes started down at the ground on my feet and made their way up to finally take all of my freakishness in.

Most people, when they first see us, freak out and either faint, run away, or scream…often at the same time. But Anya just looked at me critically for a few neverending moments before opening the storm door, allowing me entry into her home.

"Come on in, don't mind these two lugs, they just look and sound scary," she welcomed as she held the door open for me. As if on cue both dogs stood and backed up a few steps, their entire butts and tails wagging in glee at the prospect of someone new. The moment I stepped inside the home the Dobermans could no longer contain their excitement and ran up happily sniffing at my legs and thrusting their heads under my hand for a head pat.

"See what _scaaaaaary_ guard dogs they make. This one is Lupin and the smaller one is Padfoot, and yes go ahead and get your Harry Potter jokes in now," the younger girl chuckled to herself as she closed the door behind me. "You want something to drink? I've got some coffee on right now for whenever she wakes up." Anya walked over to the counter and grabbed a couple of mugs from the cabinet and began pouring the hot liquid. She looked tired, and I guess it made sense considering what was dropped in her lap tonight.

"Where is she? Is she ok?" my voice cracked slightly as I shifted uncomfortably in the small kitchen. The dogs, satisfied with their owner's acceptance of me, ran off deeper into the house leaving the two of us alone.

The blonde walked over and handed me the warm cup, "Oh, yeah…sorry, forgot you'd probably want to know about her first thing," she motioned her hand to indicate me, "my mind is still trying to process just what the hell is going on still."

"C'mon, follow me," she began walking down the hallway attached to the kitchen. We passed a few rooms and stopped at the entrance to the large living room. Sprawled out on the couch in the middle is Elena, her arms and legs hanging off the furniture, fast asleep and snoring.

When I looked over to her sister she shook her head and sighed. She leaned against the door frame as she looked from her sister to myself, "she's passed out," she whispered. "Showed up on my doorstep, which is kind of funny to me now since she also came in through the back like you…then she drank all my booze and fell asleep right there."

A moment of silence passed between us as I kept my eyes on E. "Dude," she chuckled quietly, "I had a _lot_ of booze in here. Next time I'll take her to a drinking contest and she'll wipe the competition…we'll be rich."

I followed her as she continued down the hallway to the adjoining den. It was a bit smaller, but well furnished like the rest of the house so far. A few easels were set off to the side, some paintings half finished upon them. Both dogs had their beds in here and had already stretched out next to each other. The sister tucked her legs underneath and settled back into the comfortable cushions; I just sat and held the cup of coffee in front of me as she watched.

"So," her voice interrupted the silence that had permeated the area, "I guess this explains all these years with her fascination of turtles now. It kind of makes sense," the sound of her chuckling reminded me of E's. "The whole family tried to figure out why the fascination popped up out of nowhere."

I tried smiling, but the fight E and I had gone through earlier kept replaying in my head.

"So how many of you are there?" the question was simple. "Like, is there a whole underground city of turtle people the world doesn't know about? Should we be afraid of an impending disaster, complete with bad actors and fake CGI?"

Anya took a sip of her coffee as I snorted at her question. Yup, I could tell they were sisters. The sarcasm and jokes were the same.

"I mean, you gotta give me _some_ thing here," she continued. "I just had my sister, who was supposedly dead, come into my home as some sort of mutant thing, without really telling me anything, and _then_ met her ogre sized human turtle friend. Please tell me this isn't just some sort of bad dream, because I had sushi for dinner and if it made me hallucinate I'd _really_ hate to give that up." A split second passed before she gasped slightly, "Oh man, I didn't eat your family did I? Are you here to kill me in revenge now?"

A genuine laugh escaped me as I relaxed on the chair in front of her. Her reaction reminded me of the first encounter me and my brothers had with Elena so many years ago. The smile on her face showed she was happy at succeeding in making me more comfortable.

We talked back and forth, going over the details of the past years. I explained my brothers and dad, and our first chance meeting with E. She asked questions, genuinely interested in us and how we lived, explaining that even though she was also kind of interested in the same things Elena was, she never had the passion her sister did to actually studying and traveling.

In truth, she was more of a black sheep to the family than even E considered herself. Whereas their brother had gone on to follow the same path their father had, Anya realized she didn't find school in her best interest. She took her trust fund for college and instead bought her home and invested the rest on the stock exchange. The help from her father paid off as she had enough to live on while pursuing her talents as an artist, which is how she met her boyfriend.

An hour or so had passed with our conversation before we both became silent, our histories exposed. "So, um…" she stared down into her empty cup, "I guess we should address the large turtle in the room. Just _how_ did my sister end up like this? She refused to say anything about it before she passed out."

I sneered as a picture of Brad crossed my mind, though the sounds of both dogs reactively growling snapped me out of my brief memory. I apologized and leaned back again before going into the history of their relationship as I had known it. She listened intently as I explained the hospital and how we found her, though I decided to keep her nightmares and other issues out of the conversation. A frown adorned her face as the information filtered through her head, and I could see the white on her knuckles from her clenched hands.

"That…that _asshole_ ," she scowled as she got up to pace the room, "and to _think_ that was the kind of guy my dad kept pushing on her, trying to get her settle down and be all 'normal'…" She used her fingers as quotations as she emphasized the last part of her statement. "Jesus, I had no idea. I mean, I know dad had no clue as to how he really was, but still. Always trying to get us to conform and shit. I knew she was mad at him the last time we saw each other, but I had no idea he could be capable of _that_."

She stopped her pacing before turning back to look at me, "So, wait…Is there a way to change her back? Mom and dad would want to know she's still alive…"

I shrugged my shoulders slightly, "We still don't know. One my brothers is smart and is trying to figure out if there's a way, but we'd want to go about it safely. We don't want to hurt her more or risk killing her."

The girl nodded as she processed the information. Her fingers had curled in on themselves as they tapped them against her mouth in thought. "Was she even planning on telling my parents?" her next question came quietly.

I exhaled a breath I didn't realize I had been holding. "You know, I don't really know." I reached my arm up and rubbed the back of my neck, feeling uncomfortable talking about what E could have going through her head. "She's just got a lot of stuff going on right now, and I think she'd rather wait until the time was better."

"What, so they don't have a right to know their daughter is actually _alive_?" Anya blurted her question out, but quickly waved her hand apologetically. "Sorry, sorry…I get that it's her decision to tell people, and I'm glad she came to me, though I feel it was more because she didn't have anywhere else to go…"

My eyes lowered to the floor in shame as the small blonde came to sit on the ottoman in front of me. She paused a moment before reaching forward and taking my large hands into hers.

"Look, piecing together what I could understand from her earlier and now listening to your side of…current events, I know there's something going on between you two, and she's going through something I can't even fathom right now. It kills me that I can't understand or really _help_ her get through this and…dammit she's my _sister_ for Christ's sake."

I looked up to see the tears brim in her eyes, threatening to fall. Quietly she continued, "I just want to say thank you for being there for her when she needed someone. You and your family have helped her in so many ways, and even risked your lives saving her. There's nothing I can do or say that could ever repay that."

I froze at her actions. I've never been good with girls, much less _crying_ girls, and especially ones that I just met.

Anya quickly wiped away any wetness from her eyes and stood up to retrieve both empty cups of coffee. "I can make some more, and if you'd like you can stay in one of the guest bedrooms while she sleeps this alcohol off. Think we should move her to a bed?"

I stood up quickly and realized I could see a slight lightening in the sky beginning outside; it wouldn't be long before the sun began to rise and I needed to be back at the lair by then.

"Nah, I think I'm good. She and I, uh, had a disagreement before she came here, and I don't want her to get all pissy waking up to me if she was tryin' to avoid me in the first place."

We walked towards the back of the house and I glanced once more into the living room where I heard E's loud snoring. She looked kind of peaceful sleeping there on the couch. I didn't want to mess that up by trying to move her.

"She'll be fine here," Anya's soft voice drug me from my thoughts; her light hand on my shoulder, "It'll definitely be interesting when Trev comes home in a couple hours, but I can handle him. I'll text you as soon as something happens."

I nodded and we said our goodbyes before I headed back to my bike in the alleyway. For some reason I felt more tired and heavy than I had felt in awhile, and this even included after Elena was taken in the park. Maybe it had to do with just how broken she was inside, and there wasn't much I was able to do to help her. Her outside shell, yeah we can handle that, maybe even turn her back to normal, but there wasn't anything I could really _do_ to help her mind out. She had been royally fucked over these past few months and I couldn't just go flip a switch and make her better.

Maybe that's what pissed me off more about the situation; that I was really helpless. I had been through so many situations, and even then my brothers and I could usually figure out a way to come through.

Elena turned to her sister and risked everything because of a fight she and I had. And it wasn't even really a _fight_ at that; she just didn't like me saying how I felt even though it was true.

Dammit, I hated this feeling of not being able to _do_ something.

All of my family were still up by the time I walked back into the lair; but I ignored them all as I walked back to my room. I guess I had a pissed off look on my face, commonly referred to as 'resting bitch face' per Elena, because no one really asked me anything as I made the way to my bedroom. Even Mikey had decided to leave me alone, and here I had all planned out on different ways to tell him to go fuck himself if he insisted on bugging me.

Man, I guess we had all grown up a little in the past few years. Good for me today though, as I was in no mood to play around.

I flopped down on my bed and rolled around trying to get comfortable with no success. Even if she had her helmet with her to cover her head and stuff I seriously doubted she would try to come home in the daytime. I'd just have to suck it up and try to get a little bit of rest until then.

 _If_ she decided to come back.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

 _We do all this because we love you._ I _love you dammit!_

Raphael must've said that in the heat of the moment; he couldn't have meant it. It was obviously just a slip up, right? I thought he would backpedal and try to pass it off as a joke, but no…he meant every word. And then got angry when I told him he wasn't allowed to.

How could he even be serious about that? Look at me! Look at what a dangerous monster I was turned into! I had to get away from him in that moment. I couldn't look at him, couldn't look at the pain that was written on his face at my reaction to his secret.

So I did the first thing that came to mind. I ran. I ran as fast as my body could take me, and thankfully it was faster than him. The actual run was a blur, but my body had enough sense to stick to rooftops and shadows so even more people couldn't see what a freak I had become. Minutes felt like hours, but soon enough I had stopped to take a small breather and I realized I was miles away from the bridge.

Tears flooded my eyes as my mind finally caught up to what I had been running from and I screamed as I punched a nearby wall on the rooftop I was on. My hand screamed in pain from the bricks cutting into my knuckles, but I didn't care as I focused all my anger and pain into that one single spot.

Minutes passed before I finally stopped and panted from the exertion. There was now a decent size dent in the bricks with a small trail of blood slowly making its way down to the rooftop.

My knuckles had obvious gashes in them, but I knew it wouldn't take long for them to heal on their own. Small reminders of prior wounds from my time in the lab began voicing their memories all over my body and I yelled out in frustration.

I just couldn't do this anymore. I can't go back to the lair now and pretend nothing had happened, that everything was all hunky dory. I wish I could talk to Michelangelo right now. He had always been my number one go-to guy as we grew up, and even though he had a goofy exterior he always gave surprisingly good advice.

Anya had been the next in line for someone I could tell anything to. Well, almost anything. I always kept the boys and Splinter a secret, and I think she always knew there was something I wasn't letting on. I always felt bad for not telling her, but I had made a promise to everyone not to blow their cover.

That was before all of _this_ had happened. Before college, and before I had been genetically mutilated. And besides… _they_ had other people that knew. What would be the harm in adding one more person to that list? I could trust her.

The stinging sensation in my hands drew my attention, and I looked down at my furry fingers with razor sharp claws hidden inside. I'm a freak now though, there'd be no way she'd accept me for who I am.

Right?

I hesitated slightly, but moved nearer to the edge of the rooftop to truly get a bearing on where in the city I was at. Her townhouse wasn't too far away, a few blocks at most. Maybe something deep down knew to head this way while I was upset.

I needed somewhere to go since it would eventually be daytime, and I couldn't exactly hide out in the sewers. Donatello had cameras and sensors all over the place, so I'd surely be found in no time. Hell, knowing Raph he probably had his brother already on the move scouring through camera feeds through the city trying to find me now.

I found myself moving across the rooftops towards where I knew the spikey blonde lived. It was a big risk, but I had to do something. Besides, if she screamed or freaked then I would just leave and try to get out of the city as best I could. I may have to hide in the nearby parks and travel at night, but I felt relatively confident that I could head north into the country and away from people.

Sure enough, the moment I knocked on that back door in the darkness I heard the two familiar deep barks coming from her dogs. I loved those two dogs to death, and forgot to factor them into the equation. Tonight was Saturday, so of course Trevor was staying late at the shop; they tended to be more protective when he wasn't home. I hid in the shadows as I saw her familiar form come into the kitchen and open the door.

Before she could fully open the door both Lupin and Padfoot had erupted through the opening and snarled at where I hid in the shadows. I tried to shush them a bit, but neither backed down. Finally I growled low and yelled at both of them to shut the hell up. Each dog cocked his head and sat down panting happily, realizing who the owner of the voice was.

Anya must've heard the sound and called my name, questioning who was in the shadows. So I finally sucked up my courage and slowly moved into the light. Her eyes opened wide when she saw my 'upgrades' and looked like she wanted to scream, but just stood and watched as both dogs finally couldn't contain their excitement and leapt at me, licking and yapping happily at their long lost friend.

They finally calmed down and she took a step towards me with tears brimming in her eyes. Anya took my face in both hands and looked at me, asking if it really was me. It felt foreign to have her hands on my fur, and I wanted to shy back, but she quickly pulled me into a hug and cried.

Family…the familiar feel of a sibling's hug. Everything in me fell apart at that moment and we both fell to our knees and cried into each other's arms.

We eventually made our way into her living room and talked. I didn't want to go into any details of what happened, so just gave her as vague details as I could. She brought me some whiskey to calm my nerves, and after a few glasses I finally just began drinking from the bottle. Soon after I drained bottle after bottle of everything she had in order to try and escape all my issues. I know I became a blubbering mess, and don't even know half of what we talked about, or even if she understood any of it, but at least she stayed there with me. I felt safe at the moment.

It was my stupid damn neck that finally woke me from my drunken slumber. The stinging pain felt like a knife at the base of my skull which radiated up across my head and straight down my spine. I groggily rubbed at my eyes and realized it was way too damn bright outside for the world to exist.

I guess both dogs had slept in here with me because at the first movement they both jumped excitedly on me. How we didn't break her couch I don't know, but I yelped in surprise and batted both of them away.

"People don't give those dumbasses enough credit," a familiar voice cut through the excited yapping, "Had it not been for them last night I probably would have screamed or shot at you…maybe even both."

Anya stood at the entrance to the kitchen with two cups of coffee in her hand, dark circles under her eyes.

"Man, I thought _I_ looked like shit," I chuckled to myself as my younger sister came into the room and handed me a cup of the warm liquid before sitting next to me on the couch. Her head leaned over to rest on my shoulder and I smiled slightly as the steam rose up to warm my face. "You stay up all night?"

A small smile broke out on her face, "Well, _some_ one had to explain why there was a huge bear woman sleeping on our couch when Trevor got home from the shop. Though that would have been funny for him to walk in with no warning."

Oh shit. In all my infinite wisdom, I really forgot to think that Trevor would also see me like this. I guess add another person to the list now.

The quiet question interrupted the silence in the room. "Did he freak out?"

"Yeah, but not as bad as I would have pegged him for. You gotta remember he tattoos drunk people on the weekends, so he sees some pretty strange shit…juuuuuuust not this strange." Anya leaned back and settled into the soft cushions, taking a sip of her drink. "He's sleeping in our room with the door locked. You know, like that'll help if you decide to go on a rampage or something. I'll have to berate him later for deciding to leave me and the fur kids out here with the _scaaaary_ mutant though."

Her feet came up to rest on the coffee table in front of us, "I, uh…I got to meet your boy toy last night too. The red one?"

My ears twitched as I picked up what she said and I barely caught the cup before it could hit the ground. "Raph was here?"

"Aha! I was right!" the younger girl squealed as she sat up excitedly and began chattering like an excited teenager. "Like, I had a _feeling_ there was something between you two, and _definitely_ with the way he looked at you, but I couldn't quite tell if it was a mutual thing and all, but yes!"

I set the cup down on the coffee table before standing up and pacing the room, "Wait, so he was _here_? When? Why? Huh?" So many questions rumbled through my head, but I couldn't get any of them to form coherently.

A sheepish blush formed across Anya's face, "Yeah, uh…after you came here in the state you were in and drank yourself into oblivion I decided to snoop your phone. He was the last one you had been in contact with, so I called to let him know you were ok." She tucked her legs underneath her and took another sip of her drink. "Sorry not sorry, but you know you'd do the same exact damn thing had the roles been reversed."

Her logic needed to hush. I felt betrayed by my own flesh and blood. She had no right to snoop in my phone; I didn't give her permission. But on the other hand she was right. Yeah, I'd probably do the same thing she did, though most likely with less tact and a lot more curse words.

My pacing lessened as I stopped to look at the pictures on her mantle. It held a few of her, Trevor, and the dogs; their own happy family. But it also contained pictures of the rest of our family, happy memories from a time that seemed so long ago.

I reached for one in particular and ran my fingerpad across the curved metal of the frame. I was in my early tween years, so that put Anya as still in elementary school. We were on vacation at the family's cabin in the Adirondacks and had gone fishing. She had hooked something large, so I ran over to help her reel it in. It took both of us to bring in the huge pike, so dad had taken a picture where both of us were hefting it into the air. I had positioned myself behind her so she could take the spotlight in the photograph, and huge smiles were plastered across both of our faces.

Anya and I had always been relatively close; neither one of us thought we would ever live up to the ideals of our father, so we always had that unique bond. I wiped a forming tear from my eye as I placed the picture carefully back in its place.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I sighed out quietly, but replaced my exasperation with a slight grin. "Though don't start thinking you're always right now. I guess this makes up for me reading your diary."

I felt something coming in my direction and caught the pillow that had been thrown at my head. "Bitch! I _knew_ it was you back then!" I tried not to giggle as my sister complained on the couch, "though you seriously had me freaking out thinking maybe it had been dad or Nate. Gah!"

"Dude, you know if they knew about you kissing boys in middle school they would have prevented you from doing anything even remotely fun the rest of your childhood." I whizzed the pillow back at her and she was unable to block it from hitting her in the chest.

She came over to where I stood at the mantle and gave me a big hug; we both were laughing at this point, and for a split second it almost seemed I had been transported back to when I was human.

The sound of someone's throat clearing brought us from our moment and we both turned to see Trevor looking at us from the entrance with wary eyes. I noticed he leaned against the door frame and concealed one hand behind the wall; the smell of his nervousness invaded my senses and I could tell he was scared.

"See?" Anya laughed as she saw his reaction, "Elena's not some sort of scary monster, Trevor. Once we get her house trained she'll be good to go." She grunted as I shoved her a little bit and laughed as she elbowed me back. "So, can we keep her?"

The banter back and forth between Anya and I definitely surprised him, though I noticed he visibly relaxed a little. I heard him place something heavy on the table just outside the door before he slowly walked in towards us, and I inwardly knew it had to be their shotgun. He approached and had to look up somewhat to look me in the eye, studying me. It felt awkward, definitely moreso than with anyone else that had seen me yet. It had only been a few moments, but felt like forever had passed before he smiled slightly and reached up to scratch behind my ears.

"I swear! What is it with people wanting to do that?!" I shrieked as I batted his hands away, the ringing of laughter from both of them filling the room. He reached forward and pulled me into a large hug before patting me on the back.

"It's good to have you back Elena," he said sincerely as he released me. "It was definitely a shocker when I walked in and Anya told me everything. I thought maybe _she_ had hit the bottle a little too hard last night."

I heard my sister scoff at his statement as she left the room towards the kitchen. Within seconds I could hear the coffeepot begin brewing again as the enticing aroma of a fresh pot wafted throughout the house. Trevor and I made our way into the kitchen where I noticed all of the curtains had been drawn where normally the room would be lit with plenty of natural sunlight. Anya had grabbed some bacon and eggs from the fridge and began preparing food for all of us as Trevor and I refilled our cups.

"I didn't think you'd want our neighbors to be nosier than they normally are," she replied as she saw me eyeing the curtains. Yeah, that was true.

"Well, if you wanted to cause Mrs. Trawick next door to have a heart attack, that'd be the best way to go about it," I chuckled slightly at the memories I had of her neighbor. Nosy was definitely one of the nicer terms to describe them. They tended to watch my sis and Trevor with wary eyes just because they were tatted up and living together without being married, those heathens.

Ugh, nothing would ever beat the smell of fresh coffee and sizzling strips of pig fat in the morning. That seriously could cure the biggest of hangovers. The first few strips didn't last long once they were placed on the table and the grease helped to relieve the still present queasiness of my drinking from last night coupled with everything this morning.

"You're more than welcome to stay the day…hell, you could move in and I'd be super excited. Though you know we'd end up killing each other within a few weeks," Anya laughed as she scrambled eggs in the pan in front of her. "The shop is taken care of for today and neither of us really had anything going on anyway. It was going to be a Netflix kind of day today."

"I can't do that to you guys, you've already done so much for me…"

"Bitch, please," she retorted harshly. "Don't start that bullshit. You've been 'dead' for half a year and all of a sudden you're going to reappear and then be like 'oh just kidding guy, nevermind'?"

I lowered my eyes in gloom at the realization of what she might've gone through these last six months. Of course it must have been hell for her as well to think I had been killed, but then have her doubts and be ostracized by the family.

A large pile of eggs slid on the plate in front of me as she sat down to the table to begin her own. "Look, I get it, I guess. You don't want to risk us getting into any trouble because of who turned you and what you are now, but guess what? I don't give two shits about all that." She took a bite of her bacon and waved it around slightly for emphasis.

"You're my sister, and family sticks together. I'll be happy to tell dickwad that to his face if I ever see him, but before I do that I'll be sure to introduce his face to a fucking tire iron. But don't sit there and think that I'm just going to _let_ you walk away from all of this. You may be bigger than I am, but dammit I'll wave a fish or something to get your attention."

I snorted at her statement; she had never been one to sugar coat anything, so I don't know why I expected her to do so now.

Silence pervaded the kitchen as the three of us ate in relative peace. I tossed the leftover pieces of my bread down to Padfoot and snuck a tiny bit of bacon to Lupin who eagerly lapped up the morsel.

"So, when can we meet the rest of them? The turtles?" Anya came right out and asked. Trevor seemed confused and I guessed she didn't tell him the part about her meeting Raph last night.

"I, uh…I don't know," I stammered out, not really knowing what my next course of action was. "I wasn't planning on going back there for awhile…"

The sound of her scoff reminded me of when we were teenagers, "Please, don't give me that crap. Just because the two of you had a spat last night doesn't mean you should avoid him."

On that note Trevor wisely excused himself and put his dishes in the sink. He knew better than to get involved when it came to females talking about guys. Though he shot my sister a look definitely wanting an explanation later of what the hell we were talking about.

No Trevor, there wasn't an army of bear humans waiting to take over the city. In fact, the turtle story was more interesting that I could ever be.

I leaned back in the chair and stretched my legs, contemplating her statement. "It's just…It's a little more complicated than you realize-"

"Look," she raised her hand to interrupt me, "I don't want to hear any lame excuses. After you started kicking back all my bottles of booze you broke down crying about a guy. 'Cept I couldn't understand you through all the blubbering. I pieced it together once he showed up and I talked to him. You gotta give me _some_ sort of credit here."

I rubbed at the irritating spot on my neck and shook my head to get rid of the itch. "Dude, he said he _loved_ me last night. What the hell am I supposed to make of that?"

" _And_? Where's the harm in that?" she huffed as she crossed her arms in frustration. "Just because you've been through some shit in the past then that means you're destined to be miserable the rest of your life? You two were a thing before all this mess, weren't you?"

I nodded slightly. "Well," she continued, "that just shows you he's genuine. Remember in high school when what's-his-face told you he loooooooved you; you ran off then too. How is this any different? Raphael accepts you for you and what you are now. What's the issue with that?"

OK, so yeah I did have a boyfriend briefly in high school who said he loved me at the end of my junior year. It freaked me out so I disappeared for a few weeks from all the people topside; in fact that was one summer I spent a lot of time in the sewers confiding in Mikey and having him beat some sense into my head that he was no good for me and that maybe I should branch out and see what else was out there. That summer solidified my plans to go to college and travel afterwards.

I opened up and gave her the explanation that had been running through my head these past few weeks. I was dangerous, and really shouldn't be around anyone. There was no way to tell if and when I could snap and hurt any one of them.

She sat in silent contemplation for a moment after I had finished my long winded explanation, and I feared her answer.

"So what I get out of all of that is you're scared and just want to run away from any and all who love and want to support you." I exhaled in irritation but she stood up and walked over to one of the curtained windows with her hands on her hips. I could tell she was angry.

"Look, whatever fucked up opinions you have of yourself in your head…You might as well and get rid of them because you're not just going to be able to _get rid_ of us that easily. Not me, not Trevor, not the turtles. From what I've seen they love you, _he_ loves you as much as I do, and we're not just going to let you run away from your problems and wallow in some sort of self fucking pity party. You got it?"

Anya turned back and I could smell the salt from the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes, "So you're just going to have to just suck it the fuck up and _let us help you_. You don't have to do all of this on your own ya know."

I stood up from my spot at the table and eyed my sister warily. I was speechless and didn't really know what to do, but after a moment I walked over to the back door and peeked outside to see the alleyway I came in from. If only I could get back to the sewers without being seen.

"So, do you think I royally screwed this one up? Think he might take me back?"

I heard a slight laugh before she came up from behind to wrap her arms around my waist. "Of course not. From what I saw last night he would go to the ends of the earth for you, even further if you asked him. But if he hurts you he has to talk to me so I can attempt to weakly beat the shit out of him."

A small smile crept to my face as I realized she spoke the truth, and I felt a longing to be back underground at that moment. I'd just have to wait until the sun set before heading back. I placed my hand on her arm and patted comfortingly.

"Well, I guess you'll really have to get one of those roombas now, since there's going to be bear fur in your house on top of the mutt's."

Her laugh rang through my ears as we made our way back into the middle of the house to try and make the most out of the day.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Anya, Trevor, and myself spent the next few hours together hanging out, discussing the events of the past few months, and generally enjoying each other's company until the sun began to set. Trevor finally got the full story behind my 'mysterious friends' as my sister insisted on calling it, and he was rather intrigued about the whole situation. I was getting antsy for sundown, and they could tell I wanted to get back to the lair before it had fully set. I promised them they could visit soon, and Trevor let me borrow one of his hoodies to help disguise my head since I left my helmet on top of the tower at the bridge; hopefully Raph remembered to grab it after our argument.

I pulled the garment close to my face and waved back to the both of them as I made my way out to the back alley. Glancing around I could tell I was in the clear so quickly moved a manhole cover and jumped down, replacing it behind me. I mapped out in my head the general direction of the lair and began heading that way, figuring I would come across something familiar eventually. Sure enough I would check through some of the grated runoffs where I was in the city and made my way back towards my second home.

The sun had set a bit ago before I finally began seeing familiar areas of the sewer. I could make out where Donatello had planted his surveillance cameras in the wall, though to the naked eye they looked like parts of the wall. At least he had to know I was there, though I didn't know what to expect when I finally made it back.

I didn't have long to wait as I pulled the pipe lever to gain access to the lair. It seemed quiet inside, with not much activity. In fact, it was deathly silent as I entered the doorway. The only movement that caught my eye was Splinter in the kitchen warming up some water for his teapot. His eyes met mine and he motioned towards where I knew Raphael's bedroom was.

"The others have begun their patrol for the evening," he stated quietly, "Raphael has not rested at all today, so I gave him leave to take the night off. He didn't say anything when he returned, but I presumed all was not well between you two. They need to be at their full potential every evening they are above ground."

I crept over to the kitchen as quietly as I could and made to explain the situation to my second father, but stopped as he lifted his hand. "Perhaps it is not myself that needs this conversation."

I nodded slightly and gave him a small hug. "Thanks, dad. Sorry for all the trouble I've caused you all."

His tail patted me on the back as he returned the hug, "Do not fret, young one. Family takes care of one another, no matter the hardship." He put his hand reassuringly on my shoulder and squeezed slightly before moving back towards his room to meditate.

I eyed the doorway to Raph's room and felt a small pool of acid begin to form at the base of my throat. I hope he didn't hate me for everything I said to him on top of that bridge. Maybe there was still hope for us.

I made my way over to his door and knocked my knuckles against the wooden surface. No answer. I knocked lightly again, though harder than the first time. I heard some grunts, but no definitive declaration for anyone to open the door. My breath caught in my throat and I finally opened the door.

I saw a large shell facing me when I cracked open the door and entered the room. He was laying on the bed silently facing the wall. Had I not heard the change in his breathing I would have assumed he was asleep.

"Sorry, dad, I'm not really in the mood for talking my feelings out. I've already had enough of Leo in here bugging me today…" his voice trailed off as he hugged a pillow closer to him and tucked his legs a little closer to his body.

I felt his name escape my throat in a whisper, and I felt the sting of salty tears threaten to form in my eyes. At the sound of my voice he instantly flipped over and held his body up slightly by one hand, the astonishment written across his face that it was, in fact, me.

He looked tired, really tired; like he hadn't slept properly in a few months. Then it hit me, and the words he uttered earlier on the bridge finally sank deep into my core.

Yeah, I had been through absolute hell the past six months, but I neglected to think about how it really affected each brother to their soul. Oh god. I was really such a selfish bitch to not think about anyone else but myself. What each one of them might have felt in my disappearance, and subsequent rescue. What he and Mikey went through every time I woke from a nightmare. What emotions ran through them everytime I woke up screaming.

The wetness coated my cheeks as the tears trailed down my fur. What had I _done_?

"Raphael, I…I'm so…" I choked slightly as the words refused to form into any sort of apology. The tired lines on his face softened slightly, and the look of shock melted into one of acceptance. He lowered himself back down to lay fully on the length of the bed, but scooted back to have his shell touch the wall before patting the section of bed in front of him.

Without hesitation I crawled into bed next to him and buried my head into his plastron, the sounds of my crying echoing throughout the room. His massive arm formed a decent pillow as he pulled me close to him, his face nuzzled down into the top of the fur on my head.

The words kept trying to form any sort of apology, but the sobs that escaped my body overshadowed any attempts to say I was sorry. His other arm wrapped over and behind me, rubbing soothing circles in the middle of my back, and I could hear quiet sounds come from him in an attempt to calm me down.

Time passed in slow motion as we laid together in his bedroom, the four walls of this small chamber the one truly safe place I had in the world at the moment; one in which I never wanted to leave.

The tears had all but dried from my eyes, and the soothing circles dwindled down to his thumb tracing gentle patterns up and down my back. The sensation was mesmerizing and I heard him begin to chuckle lightly as a low content rumbling sound escaped my throat. I cleared my throat, interrupting the sound and pulled back slightly to look up at him.

"Raph, about earlier on the bridge…" I began quietly, "I just want to say I was sorr-"

I was interrupted as one of his fingers came to rest on my lips, silencing me. Before I could protest further he pulled me close, a hand on both sides of my face, and kissed me deeply. The familiar sensation of electricity at his gentle touch ran through me, and I held onto him for dear life, clutching myself closer to his massive body.

We remained connected until we finally had to pull apart again to breathe; he placed his forehead down on mine and closed his eyes and we gasped slightly for air.

"I'm sorry I ran earlier," I sighed as I melted into him. I began to explain why I had freaked out, but stopped as a snicker escaped him. I pulled back slightly and cocked my head in confusion.

"You know, sometimes you are the most difficult person to deal with…definitely a pain in the ass," he said as he reached up to smooth a piece of my ponytail that had come undone. "But other than that, I think you're pretty perfect the way you are."

I huffed out in response which caused him to laugh even more. He laid back down on his bed and beckoned me to come back and lay on his arm to snuggle. "You look as tired as I am, so let's just enjoy this night off. All the details can be sorted out tomorrow."

Little did I know that night would be the best sleep I'd ever have.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

"So wait, you can fight with and throw _daggers_? How in the world you haven't managed to cut your own head off I'll never understand," Anya's laughter rang through the room as she took a bite of her pizza, "You were never the most agile kid growing up if I remember right. Remember the playground incident?"

I snorted at the memory and instantly regretted it as the carbonation from the soda I had been drinking burned my nostrils. "Dude, please don't remind me of that. My ass _still_ hurts sometimes from that."

"Well, it was your fault you tried to dance across the top of the monkey bars at the behest of a _five_ year old!" my younger sister laughed in response. She straightened up and got a serious tone as she imitated our father, "Now, Leelee, just because Ani asked you to do that doesn't mean you _had_ to. If she asked you to jump off a cliff would you do it?"

The chorus of laughter around us echoed throughout the lair as everyone relaxed during dinner; even Splinter offered up a few quiet chuckles at the interaction between all the brothers and my sibling. A few weeks had passed since my argument with Raphael and things were, dare I say, _good_ at the moment.

Anya and Trevor had taken a few trips down to the lair to see just who and what existed beneath the streets, and to say they were a positive addition to the group would be an understatement. Trevor was hesitant at first, just like the same reaction to his first meeting with me, and he hung back while my sister took point and introduced herself to the brothers and adoptive father. She had already met Raphael so she gave him an enthusiastic hug in greeting, catching him off guard.

Sis was fascinated with the whole operation they had in the lair and enthusiastically talked with and looked at everything she could. Mikey fell in love with her quickly, probably because she and I acted so much alike, and I laughed when I saw him use all the same pickup lines on her. Trev and Leo became quick friends and they squirreled away to chat; both of them had pretty laid back attitudes, so it came as no surprise to me.

The moment she saw the dojo, Anya insisted I show her some moves…"self defense" she wanted to claim. I showed her some of the simple things I was first taught by Leo in the beginning of my training and she picked up on them quickly, but laughed when it was mentioned at dinner about my choice of weapon.

"Tsk," chimed in Michelangelo, "who needs pointy things when you dazzle your foes with _these_?" He whirled his nunchucks around impressively, garnering a lifted eyebrow from Anya. "Oh yeah, babycakes, these things take the _real_ skill around here."

Raphael snorted as one of his sai came out of nowhere and snagged the chain on one of the nunchucks before planting both weapons in the wall behind him. "What were you saying there, Mikey? Can't do much with just one of those things, can you?" I playfully reached back and smacked him on the shoulder at his joke; a small smirk formed with his mouth and he squeezed me a little tighter back against him.

"Wow, so you guys really weren't kidding when you said you were ninjas," Trevor piped in from his spot next to my sister. "Like, I thought it was just a bit of an exaggeration, but you guys are _legit_."

"Well, my sons and I have had many years down here, which has allowed us ample time to perfect our skills," Splinter spoke into the group, surprising most of the group with his interjection. "You've perfected your talent over the years, am I correct Mr. Trevor?"

The young man seemed taken aback by his question, even seemed intimidated by the large rat at first, but warmly smiled and nodded his head, "Yeah, I guess you have a point there, sir." Splinter chuckled and waved his hand, explaining there was no need for formality in reference to him, and quietly excused himself to retire for the evening. I promised to be by in a little bit to have our daily session.

The banter continued back and forth for a few more minutes before I leaned forward to stretch my sore limbs; I had been practicing much more recently and had spent most of my time either training or relaxing with Raphael. As if on cue I felt his strong hands rubbing small circles in between my shoulder blades, as if he knew where the soreness existed the most. His fingers dug deep into the sore tissue while a few of them worked their way up to the base of my skull.

Ugh, that spot still bugged me now and again, and we still had no clue as to what was causing the periodic pain to flare up. Donatello had run dozens of scans, most of them I can't even pronounce, but he found nothing wrong with the area. Maybe it was just one of those things that would occur on certain people, kind of like arthritis. I snickered to myself at the thought of someone with _my_ issues having something as simple as arthritis. Moments of my time in the lab with him these past few weeks flooded my mind and I found it difficult to focus on the conversation happening around me.

Donnie had finally read through all of the information they were able to pull from the facility that held and mutated me, and he tried explaining it all. Most of it I didn't understand, but he didn't seem too bothered by the info, so I didn't worry too much. He seemed intrigued at the data he was able to extract, but still hadn't found a way to formulate a serum to counteract my current changes.

 _"_ _So, what does that mean…I'm stuck like this forever?" I crossed my arms irritably as I looked at the swirling pictures of DNA strands on his screen. A few spots had been magnified, but I had no clue as to what the hell I was looking at. Donnie, on the other hand, looked like a kid who had been given everything on his Christmas list. I loved how he was nerdy like this and was super passionate with everything scientific, but I'd rather not be the subject of this medical mystery._

 _"_ _Not necessarily," he quipped as he rolled his chair over to the screen in front of me from his lab table, "See these specific points right here in your DNA chain? I was able to single out all the genes that were not specifically_ human _, i.e. your animal genes." He pointed over to another screen that had a regular DNA strand on it._

 _"_ _Now, I was able to get a sample of your DNA from before. Oh, I hope you don't mind me pulling some strands of hair off of your brush," he said absentmindedly, "but anyways, I have the exact human genes…_ your _genes in fact, to replace those that were tampered with."_

 _I reached up to tap my lip with a single claw in contemplation. "So all you need to do is a simple switcheroo and poof I'm back to normal?"_

 _His face dropped a little at the question, "Well, it's not exactly that easy, but yeah. We'd need some of that specific mutagen they used to transform you in the first place in order to try to reverse the effects, but yeah…it's possible."_

 _The idea of being back to my old self sent a small flurry of excited itches throughout my whole body; it's as if it was also ready to go back to normal as well._

 _"_ _Whatever you need me to do, Donnie, you know I'm there," I hugged him tightly, not even trying to hide my happiness at the thought. He saw my reaction and frowned slightly._

 _"_ _That's the problem though, Elena," he said quietly as he pulled forward another computer screen with multiple windows pulled up, "I've looked since a day or two after we got you back, and I haven't been able to find anything. No trace, no clues, nothing. It's as if Brad and all the research have vanished."_

 _There must have been a mistake. Brad wasn't_ that _intelligent when it came to these things, was he? Surely he would have made a mistake somewhere and left a small breadcrumb. We just had to find it._

Anya and April had been keeping a lookout topside for any information on Brad for me, but had also come up blank. He had mysteriously vanished shortly after my disappearance, but we chalked that up to him being involved with my torture and transformation at that point. But he didn't have me anymore, so what could he be doing?

In the meantime I had Donnie expand his search functions to cities outside of New York in case he may have fled the area, but hadn't heard of any leads within the past week. I glanced over and from our spot on the couch could really see only a part of Donnie's lab, though I definitely couldn't see his computers from here. I trusted his abilities, but maybe I could have a go at it and see if anything new popped up.

It was becoming more than frustrating just sitting and _waiting_ for stuff to pop up so I had taken to spending more time in the dojo. Leonardo worked with me everyday, but soon there came a time when I had learned all of his typical moves and it had become too easy during training. Each brother worked with me in order to keep my abilities sharp, so that had kept my mind occupied at least for this week.

"So you guys ready for a shell-off?" Mikey enthusiastically bounced up and down looking excited, whirling his nunchuks in the air. I shook my head slightly to clear it from my thoughts and looked around to see what the heck was going on.

"Dude, ya know this never ends well for you," Raph snorted in humor, "Why you wanna go and embarrass yourself in front of our new friends?"

"Whatever, dude," the orange clad brother laughed, "You just don't want to lose in front of your _girl_ friend…" he ended on a sing songy note and I felt the turtle behind me tense. He hated being ridiculed like that, and I knew Mikey was doing it on purpose to goad him.

"Hey, how about you do teams or something? Mikey and Donnie versus you and Leo?" I laughed when the youngest turtle stopped mid bounce and got an excited look on his face.

"So now _you_ are trying to embarrass him?" Raph laughed, "Putting me and Leo against them ain't fair, you know we'll pulverize-"

"Hey, just because you two sport the more lethal of our four weapons combined doesn't mean we are any less effective in a battle situation," Donatello interrupted. He sat for a moment and contemplated the situation before continuing. "This may actually be an interesting battle scenario, as we all know pure brute strength isn't the only variable to consider in-"

"Whatever, fine," I leaned forward so Raphael could stand up from our spot on the couch, "Leo, you and me against these losers."

I chuckled inwardly at his impatientness and shrugged my shoulders with a grin as Anya's and my eyes locked. We never dealt with a lot of sibling rivalry that brothers tend to have with one another, as Nathaniel mostly kept to himself since he was a tad older than both of us, so seeing the attitudes they threw at one another was humorous to both of us.

Trevor looked like a scared bunny in a den full of hungry wolves. Poor thing was an only child so he was totally clueless to any of the banter and insults that were being thrown back and forth between everyone. Anya gently grabbed his elbow and stood with him, reassuring him that yes we were safe and not to be afraid.

I hung back slightly as the group began making their way over to the back of the lair where the dojo stood. Raphael turned his head when he realized I wasn't near him and lifted an eye ridge.

"Go on ahead, I'll be just a minute," I laughed as I reached to kiss him. "I'll clean up here and be in there in just a few." He didn't move for a moment, savoring our time together, so I playfully poked him on the shoulder, "Go give them hell…just don't leave any marks." He smiled as he nodded and ran off towards the dojo, punching the air in excitement.

The pizza boxes and plates didn't take too long to gather up; I just wanted to give a few minutes in case anyone decided to check on me. I'd have to hurry if I didn't want to raise suspicion. Most likely I wouldn't find anything and I felt almost _guilty_ for snooping, but dammit, I couldn't just sit idly by anymore.

Donatello's lab was eerily still; I don't think I had ever been in here without him before. It almost seemed like a foreign environment, the amount of computers and screens intimidating me, but I swallowed my hesitation and grabbed the first seat I saw, sliding over to where the main console was.

God, how many friggin screens does one person even _need_? I glanced throughout all the ones I saw and found a couple that had windows up with search features. It looked like he had already ran some facial recognition software through all of the cameras in the city, and nothing had pinged at all. It could be easy to change one's facial features though, even so far as to using prosthetics could fool the system.

Hmmm, lemme do some research into Mr. Bradford Grant. I pulled up some screens that had basic information on him, such as birth certificates and such, as well as all of our high school records. His college transcript was plastered on another screen and I saw he did take a lot of other genetic based classes while working on his basic medical degree. Geez, it was like he was way interested in genetics way before he found out his uncle had a "research opportunity".

I screened some sites and tried to access information on his uncle, but there wasn't much. There was a lot of archived data on his father, but it was all in reference to the turtles' prior dealings with Baxter and the Shredder, so that wasn't terribly helpful.

His mom was a normal gal, so I wasn't expecting to find much in the way of her. I easily found her current address, and it seemed all her financial records were in order as well, but then on a random search I found something curious. A small screen with an obituary popped up in the bottom corner when I searched her name. That was odd. Her name wasn't terribly uncommon, and the obituary was sparse with information, but it was plain as day with her listed next of kin. Mr. B. Grant.

Now his name wasn't _that_ uncommon, but come on, this was better than nothing. On our first meeting on my arrival back into the city he hadn't mentioned anything about her death. But this obituary was from a few years ago.

Here was my link. This couldn't all be a coincidence.

I quickly typed into some more financial databases and found a small trail of where all her money had been funneled into. There had been some fancy hacking skills apparently done in order to make it look like she was still alive, but that obituary didn't lie. Maybe one of her friends placed the obituary in a tribute to a friend and Brad kept all of her stuff open. It was entirely possible, because for the life of me I couldn't find a death certificate on the woman.

I sat back in slight shock. Could he have done something to her? Experimented on _her_ as well?

A loud yell from the dojo dragged me from my moment and I dove back into my search. From the sound of it Mikey and Donnie were keeping Leo and Raph on their toes, but who knows how much longer their fray would last.

It looked like there a trail of deposits from the money in her account that had been funneled into paying for an office building on the other side of town. According to current power and water bills for the past few months it was up to date, so that meant someone was in there.

This was it. I needed to get into that building.

Another loud curse echoed from the dojo and I memorized where the building was before closing all the windows I had opened and put everything back the way I found it. I knew going in by myself was foolish, so I needed backup, but I frowned as I realized Raph would be vehemently against me doing any sort of reconnaissance.

Ugh…I didn't want to keep it from him, but this was _too_ important. This place may have information that could lead to me being turned back human; would he stand in the way of that?

I bit my lip as I contemplated the situation and exited the lab. Maybe some things were worth keeping secret.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

"Oooo bro, see you're like a butterfly but I'm like a bee bzzz bzzz baby!" Michelangelo laughed as he dodged an oncoming attack from his tank of a brother. He and Donnie had kept Leo and Raph at bay most of the fight, and he had done nothing more than pissing him off more than he already was. The red clad turtle yelled out a party foul when the youngest had thrown a smoke grenade in the middle of the fight so he could get to a better vantage point, but he quickly ducked and snorted in laughter before telling him there weren't any rules set up ahead of time.

"C'mon Mikey, just get down here and fight me like a real friggin fighter would," Raph snarled out, getting tired of the young turtle's games. He bent backwards as Donnie's bo came swinging right above him in an attempt to knock him from behind, and easily grabbed the wooden stick.

Of course, he should have known that would be too easy. An electrical shock coursed through his hand and he cursed as he let go of the weapon. How the hell could he have electrified a friggin _wooden stick_?

A happy snort came from his side as he saw the shadow of Donatello flip away from him. Finally the smoke from the distraction was starting to clear up so he was able to get a better picture of his surroundings. I tried to keep my face normal so he wouldn't think anything was wrong, and it seemed like it worked. He smiled and gave a small wave as I walked into the dojo and made my way over to where my sister and Trevor sat.

Whereas I may have fooled Raphael, for the time being, I definitely wasn't able to pull the wool over Mikey's eyes; he instantly stopped his flipping and stared at me, those ice blue eyes could see straight through me. I lowered my eyes to stop his staring and heard him exhale loudly as Raph crashed into him, knocking him into the wall with a loud crash.

"Heh," Raph chuckled as Mikey removed himself from the turtle sized hole in the wall, "Not buzzing a lot now, huh?"

The youngest brother shook it off and focused back on the fight in front of him, "Nah, bro. I just got distracted by the hotties in here." I saw him throw me a side glance and knew he wouldn't be letting it go anytime soon.

The fight went on until both sides admitted they were easily matched; brains versus brawn didn't necessarily mean an automatic win for either side. Leo made some comments about needing an increase in the amount of training each one of them needed, and proposed a training schedule in order to pit each against one another soon. Needless to say it fell on deaf ears as the other three rolled their eyes and exited the dojo.

It was getting late and I still needed to help Anya and Trevor get back up to the surface since he was about to head in for some late hour work on a client. Raphael offered to go with me as I escorted them, but I noticed some scorch marks from one of Donnie's electrical shock and _insisted_ they check him over to make sure he was fine. Michelangelo grabbed the skateboard off his back and excitedly skated around the lair before offering to go with us, giving a lame excuse about hanging out with the "hotties" for as long as possible.

We guided my sis and her boyfriend up towards an exit that would be close to a metro that could take them back to their home without much fanfare. Each visit they seemed to have a lot of fun, and this one was no different. Anya babbled on and on about how each turtle was so skilled in their preferred weapon and she wished she had the talent for fighting.

I offered for her to come down now and then if she wanted for Leo or myself to teach her some basic sparring skills; it never hurt for people have basic knowledge of self-defense, and it gave me a good chance to hang out with her more often, which I had missed desperately. Every chance something from my former life came to light I had a tendency to latch onto it for dear life, and every moment I spent with her I forgot, however briefly, that my world had been flipped on its furry head.

She eagerly agreed and we planned a day within the next few weeks for her to be able to return. I gave her and Trevor both large hugs, ignored Mikey's 'bear hug' comments, and told them to be safe on their way home. Knowing what was out there made me a tiny bit paranoid at the thought of them walking by themselves, but I inwardly smiled knowing this was probably the same feeling my own parents may have felt once their children began growing up.

I had barely even slid the manhole cover back into place before I turned and saw those ice blue eyes staring intently at me. I turned and began walking back to the lair, not addressing the obvious question looming over us, and inwardly hoped he'd drop it since I was still undecided and trying to process all the information I had retrieved from Donnie's lab.

"Oh, I see how it's gonna be," he piped in as he fixed the skateboard to his shell and walked in line next to me, "You gonna leave me hanging? You just gonna walk in and look like someone kicked your puppy, which gets _me_ kicked and have my head rattled, and then pretend like nothing happened?"

I felt myself sigh before I could stop it, and ran my hand through the hair on my head. "Maybe if you had these awesome ninja skills you claim to have then you wouldn't have gotten thrown through a wall."

"Oh, hurt, pain, pain chica," he pretended to pull a dagger from his heart and used his hands to emphasize what I assumed was spurting blood. He paused a moment and looked for a reaction, and frowned when I hadn't so much as cracked a smile. "Woah, this must be serious if that didn't work on ya. What's wrong, E?"

I hesitated for a few moments before finally stopping and facing my friend. No matter how I wanted to start the confession, to tell him what I found in the lab, the right words never really wanted to fit into a coherent statement. The youngest brother stopped next to me and patiently waited, and without any of his normal fidgeting from standing still.

"E…chica, you know you can tell me anything, right?" He placed his hand on the side of my arm in an attempt to comfort me. "Like, we've always been Bonnie and Clyde, Chewie and C3PO, peanut butter and jelly…talk babe." His tone was soft, and it reminded me of all the times he and I curled up as kids and just talked the night away.

I leaned against the concrete wall and crossed my arms over my chest as I exhaled loudly. "I found some information on Donnie's computer that may point me towards where Brad is."

The sharp intake from him echoed throughout the damp underground as his eyes narrowed slightly at the mention of my ex, "Like seriously? A way to find Dickford?" He still held a lot of resentment towards him…all of the brothers did, but it seemed like he and Raph took the mention of him the most negatively.

"Yeah, when all of y'all went into the dojo for your sparring match I decided to go see if there were any loose ends I could pull at, and it seemed I found one that, with enough picking at, could maybe get us closer to him."

I didn't know just how much information Donatello had given everyone else, so I went into detail about what I had learned over the past few weeks. That there might be a way to reverse the mutation, and that I had finally found a link to possibly get the mutagen he needed in order to fix me.

"So D said for sure he could change you back? All he needed was some of this mutagen?" he had folded his arms against himself as I had divulged everything; one of his fingers tapping on his mouth as he thought.

"Yeah, he said it was possible, but he needed some of this stuff," I pushed off of the wall and stretched my limbs, ignoring the small prick of pain at my neck. "Wanna go with me to check it out?"

His eyes flew open at my question and he looked confused, "Like, what… _now_? Right now?" He sighed when he saw me nod and scratched his head. "C'mon, E, you know you can't put me on the spot like that. Even _I_ know it's not a good idea to go in there half-cocked if you really think this might be another base of operations for dickwad."

My eyes showed my disappointment, and I began walking back on the path towards the lair. I knew this was a mistake to open up the idea to others. Maye I should have done this on my own. I could have snuck in silently, grabbed the mutagen if there was any, and gotten out without anyone even knowing.

"Woah, woah, woah, don't shut me out like that," he ran to catch up to my fast pace, "You _gotta_ know that's a bad idea Elena. And how come you don't want the others to find out?" He hated that I was starting to ignore him again and grabbed my arm, "C'mon, don't do this. Why don't you want anyone else to know?"

He stood for a split second before the realization crossed his features, "I'm guessing D didn't say he was 100% positive it was going to work, which means I _know_ Raph won't approve."

"I don't need his approval," I spat out as I pulled my arm from his hand. "He'd keep me in a padded box if it meant I'd never even get so much as a hangnail ever again."

"Well, that's because he cares about you, we all do," his voice softened at my harshness, and I felt like a bitch for snapping at him. "Dude, unless this thing is foolproof I'd even have a hard time going along with it, ya know?"

I sighed probably louder than I should have as I began walking again. "What choice do I have Mikey? Should I just stay like this the rest of my life? What kind of fucking life is this, to be a freak forever?"

I continued walking, expecting him to launch into a long winded diatribe as to why I was oh so awesome now with all my super powered abilities and such, but I slowed down and turned when I realized he hadn't kept up. He stood back where I was a few moments ago, looking at me with sad eyes.

"Well, we've lived like this for how long now? Are you trying to say we don't have a life down here?"

Ugh, I really was a bitch. "No, I didn't mean it like that," I apologized as I went back to him. He was the most sensitive out of the brothers, and sometimes it was hard to remember just how much words could hurt him. "I guess this whole thing has just been super hard for me to adjust to. And then when Donnie said there was a chance I just latched onto that hope and didn't want to let it go."

He nodded in agreement and gripped me tightly when I came in for a hug, "Trust me, Mikey, even if he's able to turn me back there'd be no way I'd ever change my mind about y'all. You guys are stuck with me, no matter what I am."

I pulled back and saw him smiling slightly before his usual self began to show through again. "Ok, look, here's what we can do. Why don't we go back and try to convince everyone to go? Like a wolf pack? Ooooo, maybe I can come up with codenames and all for us, that'd be so cool!" I smiled back at his attitude and we hugged each other close as we walked.

Maybe he was right. As much as I'd like to go in there solo, he had a point and it was a bit dangerous. I didn't have enough time to research what security measures could be on the building, what exactly could be going on inside, stuff like that. I'd need Don for his surveillance abilities to gain any insight to if it was even worth it. Leo would, as always, come up with an amazing plan which made sense and almost always worked.

Raph would be the wild card, both literally and metaphorically. I knew he'd be unhappy with the mission in general, and even moreso because I'd want to go. But dammit, I had trained for this since they had rescued me. Since I was way more used to my enhancements now and could combine them with the martial arts training, I'd actually learned to become a decent opponent. Hell, even recently he had made a remark about how badass I'd become since I was able to put him on his ass. But that could have been flirting too. Sometimes it was hard to tell.

He worried for me, though, and I knew it. My nightmares had lessened since we had taken to sleeping in the same bed, but I still had them every now and then. He didn't want to see me go through any more pain, but it was also painful to think there was a possible way to reverse this and _not_ go after it.

Now all I needed to do was just get them all on board. I had a feeling the biggest hurdle I'd have just so happened to be the biggest one of them.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

"No, no way, E, that's not happening," an angry red turtle snapped as he stomped over to where I stood at Donatello's computer.

I knew this was a horrible idea. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. The moment Mickey and I walked back into the lair I could feel his eyes on me, and he quickly figured something was up. Everyone had followed me into Donnie's lab so I could show them everything I found, and the entire time he sat scowling against the wall.

"It is rather impressive the amount of data you were able to glean from just looking up Brad's mother," Donatello sat and skimmed through the search findings I pulled up to show him, "my cursory searches didn't really pull up anything on her, but seeing as to how she seemed unremarkable it didn't make sense to keep going."

"Well whatever it is she found, we can go check it out. She's not going, end of story," Raphael's deep voice rang through the lab. I felt his strong hand squeeze my shoulder in a comforting way, but I pulled my arm from his grip and took my place on the other side of Dontello, ignoring him. I refused to meet his eyes and kept watching the multiple screens flip back and forth as Donnie analyzed the information in front of him.

"Bro, would you rather she have gone off by herself?" Mikey, the unexpected voice of reason, piped in from his spinning office chair. "Because that's what she could have totally done."

I felt a large body skulk past me as Raph took a spot by the wall and leaned against it, crossing his arms in displeasure at my dismissal. "No, but I thought _partners_ didn't keep stuff from each another," I could hear him angrily mutter as he passed.

"Lay off her, Raph," Leonardo's voice echoed from his spot at the entrance. "I don't want to admit it, but Mikey's got a point. Let Don look at everything and we'll go from there."

"It looks like she's right," the purple clad turtle muttered to himself as he tapped a pen against his mouth. "The building is definitely being used, but it's in a part of the city where there isn't that many cameras for surveillance." Multiple screens flashed by as he ran some random searches, "Yeah, there's nothing near for me to try and get a good look to see who or what is coming in and out of there. No banks, ATMs, street cams…nothing like that. Whoever procured it definitely wanted to be hidden."

"Is there any kind of blueprint you could pull up for the place so when we get in we have an idea of where we're going?" I let myself ask.

"No, not really," he muttered as he quickly searched, "I mean, there's basic plans for buildings of this type, but who knows what or how many modifications could have been made to it. I highly doubt any changes were approved by the city's coding inspectors…"

"So I guess we'll just find out when we get there?"

"I'll let you know when we get back," Raph tensed up again as he walked back towards the lab door, obviously done with the conversation, "because like I said before, you're staying put. End of discussion."

"You are _not_ benching me," I growled out as I walked up to him and pushed his shoulder. Even with my mixed genes and being large, when he wanted to be big and imposing he didn't have to try hard. Had I been my old self I probably would have shied away and tried to hide, but I could feel the hair up and down my spine bristle in anger at his audacity.

"Why?" he returned my scowl and stood up to loom over me, "You just wanna waltz right in there and bend over for that asshole?"

"Of course not, but I can't let y'all fight my battles for me," I snarled back at him. The amount of anger that coursed through my veins seemed to bubble up through my throat, and the sound of my growl got all four brothers to stop momentarily. "I haven't busted my ass in training for nothing, ya know."

"She may have a point Raph," Leo interrupted our tense standoff. "All Brad really knows is what she is biologically capable of, he doesn't know she's trained in a considerable amount of skills since then. And while this place may have who knows how many security measures on it, he's probably not expecting her to show up on his doorstep either. Much less with us in tow."

Luckily all of Raphael's brothers were immune to the large scowl that adorned his face, but I knew that really no plan involving me going would satisfy him.

"Raphael…please," I forced myself to calm down as I crossed my arms across my chest while looking at his eyes, "If there's any chance there might be something there that can help change me back I'm _going_ to help. I can't expect all of you to stick your neck out and have me stay behind worrying the entire time."

I could see the conflict in his green orbs, and for a moment thought he would start into another tirade about my involvement, but after a moment he sighed heavily and pulled me close to him in a tight hug. It was unusual for him to display such fear and tension in front of his brothers, but I doubted he cared. I circled my arms around him and enjoyed the embrace.

"I guess it's better to keep you with us instead of you sneakin off and doing what you want anyway," his voice was slightly shaky as he spoke. He pulled away from the hug and kept me at arm's length, making sure to look straight into my eyes, "I want you to stay right by us and don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"Fine, I swear I will listen to _every_ thing you say and not screw around," I said as I drew a small cross over my heart, though failed in an attempt to hide a snicker as I saw Mikey out of the corner of my eyes shaking his head sarcastically and mouthing 'nooooooo'. Before he could turn to see what his youngest was doing I placed my hands on both sides of Raph's face and made him look at me.

"Look, I'll listen to everything you say in there. We'll be in and out with no problems, okay?"

He placed his hands on mine and sighed, "Yeah, because nothing _ever_ bad happens when someone says that."

Time flew as the brothers gathered and loaded what gear they believed was needed for the operation into the battle truck; I felt almost silly at the lack of gear that I carried. Even with all the training I had done since being rescued, the daggers still felt slightly foreign against my thighs and back; they just seemed so small compared to my large size and claws now.

Speak of the devil, they quickly retracted back into their sheathes as I was startled from the vehicle lurching under the weight of all the brothers jumping in. Mikey gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up from his spot, and I gave a fake smile in return.

I was happy, no, _excited_ , about going on this mission at first. Finally, I may get some answers and even some solutions to my current situation. And the thought of giving some sort of payback to that asshole Brad momentarily gave me some joy.

But then the memories of what he had done to me; all the touches, the sneers, the evil laughs. The put downs. The pain. All of that began to burn through the happiness I had been experiencing to now fill me with a sort of dread.

My stomach flipped around in my abdomen as the engine roared to life, and I felt like I was going to lose my dinner. This was really happening.

Raphael was right; this was a _terrible_ idea. I looked around the cavity of the truck and found where he sat in the back ignoring the swinging punching bag that hung from the ceiling. From what I had heard from Mikey this was unlike him; usually he'd be jumping around in the back punching the obstacle and pepping himself up for whatever task they had to do.

I quietly took the seat next to him and wrung my hands awkwardly in my lap. He had been pretty irritated the entire time the brothers and I got ready, and hadn't spoken a word to me since we were in the lab. I saw him look over at my hands from the corner of my eye before his three fingers closed over my own five.

A small smile grew and I laid my head on his shoulder; whatever animosity there was between us was gone. He was just as worried for me as I was, maybe even moreso, but nothing he could do at the moment would change the course we were about to take.

Let's just hope it was the right decision.

"OK guys and gal, we're almost there," Donatello's voice caught my attention from the front of the vehicle. I heard him mutter something to Leo, who in turn grabbed a small device from a pouch in his backpack and tossed it back to me.

"Elena, that's a small communication device I made to fit in your ear. We use our radios since, well, no easy way to secure earbuds in our canals _,_ " he continued as he turned the truck down a back street. "Channel 6 is the frequency we use. Just in case we get split up-"

"Which is what we're _not_ going to do," interrupted Leonardo as he turned around to look back at us all. "We're just going to go in quiet, look around and see if there's anything Don can use, then leave as soon as we can. OK?

I nodded obediently as I tucked the small device down into my ear canal. "And Mikey, no touching anything, got me?"

"Dude, that was just the _one_ time!" the orange turtle sighed loudly as he leaned back in his seat. I heard a small chuckle come from my left as I heard Raph speak low and say he'd tell me later.

"Elena, I'm hoping that there won't be any sort of opposition inside," the eldest continued, "but if there is, let us try to take care of it first. If things go south, though, just remember your training."

I nodded and attempted to swallow the rising bile in my throat as the van screeched to a stop. Looking out the door I realized it was an alleyway in between what looked like two abandoned buildings.

"The building is just a few blocks from here, but I wanted to park this somewhere inconspicuous," Donnie piped is as a map illuminated above his watch. He pointed to a spot on the map a few minutes away from our flashing location. "We should be able to take the rooftops to get over there so I can get a better look to see just how monitored this place is."

I followed the brothers as they ascended the fire exit up to the roof; the feeling of the wind versus the stillness below ground soothed my nerves as we leapt from building to building. By the time Donnie signaled we were at our destination all of my senses were on high alert and I could feel my heart beating in my chest. I loved that feeling at the end of a warm up in anticipation for a grueling workout. It was almost like my muscles _wanted_ to be pushed to their limits.

My lungs filled with deep breaths of night air as the purple clad turtle ran some cursory checks of the building's defenses from the computer attached to his wrist. I shook my hands and arms in anticipation of what could be inside, and grinned slightly as I glanced over and saw my other half doing pretty much the same thing.

It takes one to know one, I guess.

"There's not many security features on this building's exterior, save for a simple closed circuit video monitoring system. I can disable that one camera over there from pretty close, but once we get inside I'll have to reevaluate and see what exactly is ticking inside." Don looked over at Mikey, "Do you still have that pea shooter?"

The youngest snickered as he handed it over, "Wouldn't be me if I didn't, bro."

Within a few moments a small device had been inserted into the sticky material on the end of the small tube and was handed back to the excited turtle. "Ok Mikey, see it right there? You need to hit the camera directly in the middle so-."

"Pssssha, don't doubt my aim D, I got this," he laughed and took aim at the building. Within seconds he loosed the ammo and sure enough, got it exactly in the middle of the camera's lens. Without even missing a beat he looked back at me and flashed one of his classic flirting grins, "See angelcakes? That's how you shoot."

I couldn't help to contain the giggle that escaped at his actions. No matter what I could always rely on him for his sense of humor to lighten a tense situation.

Leo raised his closed fist which promptly stopped all talking and whispering. Raph crept up next to me and pulled me over into a brief hug before placing a small kiss on top of my head.

"We got this, you just stick with me, ok?" his whisper barely heard. I reached up and kissed his cheek, the surprise evident as he momentarily froze in place.

A small cough interrupted us as we saw the other three looked slightly amused at the situation. "You lovebirds need a moment or something?" Mikey laughed, "Like we probably coulda already been in there and back before you realized we were gone."

I playfully smacked him on the shoulder as I passed and jumped over the ledge, gracefully springing and bounding off of the nearby building attachments to land silently on the pavement below. Donnie was right, the building did seem a bit barren, the only sign of any occupancy was the now disabled video camera that had been sweeping across the alleyway entrances.

The inside was just as bare. The floor and walls had no decorations on them, and seemed very clinical; memories of the hospital shivered up through my spine.

All five of us crept silently down the single hallway towards the stairwell. I peeked in a few of the rooms we passed, as they had small windows on each door, but it seemed like this floor was mainly for office spaces. I rubbed the returning irritation at the back of my neck as we silently made our way to the elevator at the end of the hallway.

"Does it bother anyone else at the lack of security in this place?" I whispered hesitantly as I watched Leo glance through the plate glass window on the door to the stairwell.

"Maybe this _is_ just a regular office building," he replied as he inspected for any potential enemies. "Though in our experiences that rarely is the case…" He slowly clicked the lock and inched open the door.

The stairwell was eerily quiet, and even with four ninjas and me being super stealthy, you could still hear every single thing echo in the four stories of stairs above us. Lights flashed from Donnie's wrist as he directed us up a couple floors and we exited to a bare hallway.

Something red flashed, and the new sounds, sights, and smells elicited an almost involuntary response from me as I dropped to my knees in horror.

It was the hospital all over again. I could see the rooms where the experiments took place; the tables that I had been strapped down to and violated over and over again. The stabs, the cuts, every single thing Brad had done to me I could feel on my body all at once as the memories flooded my vision.

A slight snapping noise caught my attention and after a moment I was finally able to focus my vision. My lungs and heart hurt just as though I had finished running a marathon, and I feebly reached to brace myself from falling forward. I didn't have to worry, though, because my shoulders were held in place by Raph, his worried expression showing through my foggy vision. It took a few moments, but I was finally able to get my breathing and beating heart under control.

Michelangelo and Leo were on high alert, their weapons at the ready for any impending attack, as Donnie knelt in front of me with a small light shining from his glasses to check my pupils, his fingers the source of the snapping noise. The fog cleared and I was finally able to understand what he was saying.

"I'm okay," I coughed out, waving his flashlight away with a bit of irritation, "get that thing out of my face."

"Pupils look to be ok now, her breathing and pulse are returning to normal levels. Give her a little space Raph," Donnie's stern 'doctor voice' came through, deriding his brother some as he leaned back. I straightened my back and leaned against the wall they had put me near.

"You doin ok E?" his voice strained as he tried to sound calm, though I think he knew he was fooling no one.

"Yeah, I'll be ok…" I said quietly as I closed my eyes and let the coolness of the wall help to calm me down. "I guess I had some sort of panic attack or something?"

"Something like that I believe," Don's voice echoed through my head. "I can't determine precisely what happened without further testing to see if there were any lasting side effects, but-"

"Nah, don't worry about that, I'm starting to feel better," I muttered as I began to stand up. Raph held out his hands for me to grab onto before hoisting me up gently. "Let's just get this shit over with."

"Like hell you are," his eyes narrowed at my comment. "No. Leo I knew this was a bad idea. Maybe Mikey should take her back to the van." He saw me about to comment back and interrupted, "Don't argue with me on this, E. What happens if we run into something and this happens again? Huh? What then? We can't fight while tryin' to babysit ya."

I stood there staring at him angrily in defiance, though I knew he was right. I just didn't want to admit it. "It's too late to turn back now, Raph. And it won't help any of us if we split up and are ambushed." I leaned around to look pleadingly at Leonardo. "We've wasted enough time. We're sitting ducks right now."

I could tell the elder turtle was contemplating both situations in his head, devising which one had the least amount of risk. "She's right, Raph." He quickly raised his hand to stop the coming argument from the red-clad terrapin. "It's too risky to split everyone up; we still don't know if or how many people are in here."

He looked like he wanted to argue, maybe even punch a hole in the wall, but after a moment the shaking in his fist began to wane as he looked back to me and saw I wasn't going to budge on my position. "Fine," he snorted as he began to walk down towards the end of the hallway.

"Oooooo, the F word," I could hear Mikey whisper as he tried to lighten the situation.

A firm hand squeezed my shoulder, and I felt Donnie lean in to whisper nonchalantly into my ear, keeping it between myself and him. "Your neck still bothering you? I've seen you rub at the exact same spot between your C3 and C4 no less than seven times within the past twenty four hours. With your rate of regeneration any type of strain or muscle damage should have already healed by now."

I shook my head slightly in disagreement and talked quietly with him as the five of us began to creep quietly down the long hallway towards an intersection, "No, it's never really gone away. Once I think it's gone it comes back. Sometimes it's brief, but sometimes it just feels like something is trying to rip my head off of my neck."

Who knows just how many thoughts and ideas were running through that genius brain, but I could tell he was stumped by my situation. "Okay," he replied, "Once we get back I'll rerun some more tests on you and see if anything new comes up." His eyes darted over to my hand as I was unknowingly rubbing the irritated spot, "Is it bugging you now?"

I nodded my head, "Yeah, it started when we first came in here, and since then it's gotten worse." He hated not knowing the answer to a problem, and I could tell this was a specific problem that he would not let up on until he found out the answer.

The conflict showed in his eyes, and before he could say anything loud enough for the whole group to hear I stopped him, "Please, let's just get this over with and _then_ we can do all the tests you want, ok?"

"Donnie," I could hear Leo whisper from the front of the group, "Which way do we go?" We had come upon an intersection and there were no signs indicating where anything was. Don, irritated at having to drop our conversation, pulled up the generic map of the building and pointed to a specific room a few hallways down, "That's where I'm seeing the most energy use in the building, so I'm going to assume that's where we may want to focus our attention. If there's any experiments or research going on, that's where it'll be held."

Silence permeated the area as the five of us turned right and tiptoed down the hallway to the next intersection. My senses were on high alert and I realized they were actually sharper now than I had ever felt before. Even though the group was almost silent every single tiny sound echoed like a loud boom in my head. I swear if I stood still and concentrated I could probably even hear each of the turtles' heartbeats. Tiny amounts of sweat and musk invaded my nose, and I swear someone in the building must've recently eaten a burrito or something.

I'd been so good recently in being able to tune out these irritating distractions, but no matter what I did they wouldn't go away.

I ran my tongue over my teeth to help alleviate the now desert-like conditions of my mouth and I had to blink a few times to focus my eyes from being blinded by the persistent florescent lights above us.

What was going on? Why was my body getting all weird on me right at this moment? The guys reached the double doors that Donnie indicated would contain our most likely source of information for this mission, but all I could concentrate on was leaning against the wall to prevent myself from falling as the room spun around me. That nagging irritation in my neck began to get worse, and I could feel the tears form behind my eyes from the stabbing sensations at the base of my skull.

"R…Raph?" The small sound managed to escape my dry mouth an attempt to signal them that something was terribly wrong. He was right…that nagging suspicion that something was going to happen began to come true. And now I couldn't do anything to stop it.

I seriously felt like I was going to be sick. You know that feeling, like you get lightheaded for a second, then all you want to do is lean forward while your stomach spins around in your abdomen. The coolness of the wall helped only slightly with the feeling, and I could barely register both Raph and Donnie at my side again as they laid me down on the linoleum floor.

I couldn't control anything anymore, and I felt helpless as my body began to flop around in convulsions.

My eyes wouldn't focus now, and all I saw were wisps of purple and red above me. The pain was excruciating, more than anything else I'd ever experienced before, and I screamed for it to stop. Whether it was verbally or just in my head I'm not quite sure.

I flailed helplessly on the floor, the muffled sounds of who I assume were Don and Raph invaded my ears above me, but I could no longer interpret what they were saying. This must be what happens before you die.

Dying would have been way too easy and quick. Little did I know things were about to get much worse.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

"R…Raph?"

I had been stewing in my own anger and issues as my brothers and I crept down the hallway towards the set of double doors that nerd boy pointed to on his watch. I was mad that we were here. I was mad that Elena was here. And I was mad that even _after_ she had her little panic attack thing, that we hadn't called the whole thing off and went back to the safety of the lair. Like really, what the hell was she even _doing_ here? It's too dangerous for her to be out on missions.

In the moment that I heard her raspy voice though, like she was struggling to breathe, everything stopped. Leo had already begun to open the double doors, but I ducked and ran back to her as her body slumped against the wall and slid to the ground. This time something was seriously wrong.

"E? Elena? Babe, come on," I spoke quickly, patting her face that lolled to the side. "Donnie! You gotta do something!" He had already taken his spot next to me and helped me to lay her out of the floor. As soon as she was down her body started convulsing violently as she screamed in pain. Donnie yelled at me to hold her still as he pulled out some random devices.

I didn't want to hurt her, but she's super fucking strong now. I couldn't hold onto just her arms because her legs were moving around as well, so all I could think of doing was to straddle her in the hope that I could keep her still long enough for him to do something. He was yelling questions to her, with no response, but then I heard yelling behind me.

Fuck. Leo and Mikey were fighting someone, and when I glanced over my shoulder I could see it was a _lot_ of someones. Apparently the double doors entered into a lab or something because I could see some scientists or something at tables inside. But they're being guarded. Or trapped. Not really getting a lot of info at the moment.

"Donnie, _do_ something!" I screamed at him as I fought against her flailing limbs and outstretched claws. I grabbed onto both of her wrists, but grunted in pain as she grabbed mine back, her claws digging painfully into the flesh on my forearms.

"What does it look like I'm doing!" Foam trailed from her mouth as he tried to pull her face over to him so he could check her eyes and airway.

Gunshots rang out in the small space as the guards or whoever shot at Leo and Mikey. In that split second Elena went slack underneath me and stopped moving.

"D? Elena?" I patted her face as Donnie shone a flashlight into her eye. "What happened?"

Before he could even answer both of Elena's eyes opened wide and darkened to the point where everything was black. A low growl came from deep in her chest and she snarled as she flung me off of her like I weighed nothing.

I groaned from the force of the impact and rolled over fast to get up. A split second later I heard Donnie grunt as she batted him away just as forcefully into another wall.

"Elena, babe?" I croaked out as I stood up slowly so as not to startle her. She had gotten up but was crouched down on all four limbs, her lips pulled back far in a snarl that showed her razor sharp teeth. A gunshot went off ahead of us and in that split second she bounded through the double doors and into the fray.

Donnie and I leapt to the doors and flung them open just in time to see her pounce on one of the guards and rip his throat out with her teeth before landing on a second one and doing the same.

The room we were in was quite large, and had a ton of different tables and work stations set up for who knew what. With the amount of work stations there were, the number of sciency looking people didn't match, and the handful attempted to retreat to the back of the room where there were not ricocheting bullets and huge mutant monsters running amok. They must've been either a nightshift or skeleton crew.

Speaking of mutants the four of us quickly turned our shells towards the dozen or so guards as they opened their clips in our direction. A few aimed towards Elena, and I felt the blood begin to boil in my veins.

"Oh no you don't!" I yelled out as I flipped around a table, and using the momentum behind my move, managed to throw it and take out a couple of the assholes. These tables weren't extra sturdy, so I knew they wouldn't be down long, but it may be long enough for me to get over to them to make them stay down…permanently.

I heard Leo bark orders to the others, but it was hard to focus when I was worried for E as well. She looked almost feral, jumping off of tables and springing over to the wall to use her momentum to leap around the room. Every single guard she came across she left in a bloody mess as she made her way from opponent to opponent.

Truthfully it seemed like she was on our side for a few moments. With her help all of the guards were down in no time and as the last one fell she stopped and stood upright on a table towards the back of the room by the scientists.

"E? Babe, can you hear me?" I asked hesitantly, not wanting to startle her. The question got her attention, and when she looked at me I couldn't see anything in her eyes that registered she was with us. A low growl rumbled through her chest as she rested her hands on her lower back where her kunai were held.

The scientists screeched at the sudden movement, and her ears twitched towards their cries. I got why they were so freaked out, not even including the four huge mutant turtles in front of them. Standing above them she must have seemed gargantuan; it definitely didn't help that she was covered in the blood of the guards she had just ripped apart.

"Elena, focus on me," Leonardo came up beside me, his katanas in their sheathes and his hands up in a gesture of peace. Her eyes glanced back and forth between the four of us and the group behind her. "This isn't you. I know you're in there somewhere. Those people are innocent in all this. Those guards were holding them hostage to do research."

"Yes, please let us go!" one woman cried, terrified at the situation. Her voice caught E's attention again and she snarled even louder.

"Elena!" I shouted, distracting her slightly as Leo moved closer to her. "Listen to him!" I didn't know what to do in this situation; like I felt I needed to talk her down, but didn't know exactly _how_ to do that. Leo was always the best one for diplomacy. All I was good for was hitting things.

"Let them go, Elena. They're innocent in all this…" his voice trailed off as he inched even closer to her. I saw a slight flicker in her eyes, the whites flashing through the inky blackness; a momentary glimpse of her normal self.

"L…Leo…" her voice shook as it struggled to form the words; her body stood stock still, almost like she couldn't control it any longer. "R…Raph. P-p-please-" Her voice cut off as a split second later she screeched in pain as if being electrocuted. In that moment her eyes returned to being dark orbs and she loosed the kunai towards the scientists.

"NO!" All four of us shouted as each of the kunai found their marks embedded deep into the chests of the researchers. Each hit was so precise I doubt any of them felt any pain as their lives were snuffed out almost instantly.

At the same moment she threw the kunai she dropped to all fours and bounded off the table she had been perched on, using the wall to try and get around us to escape the room. The four of us scattered, knowing there was nothing we could do for the scientists as each body loudly thudded to the floor.

"Don't let her get out of the room Donnie!" I yelled. He was the closest to the double doors and he slid as fast as he could towards it, jamming his bow staff through the handles to hold them closed. Just in time, too, as Elena was in mid air to bound out of them. Her body crashed against the doors and instead of falling she landed gracefully next to Donnie. She snarled as she grabbed him by the neck and threw him like a ragdoll across the room.

"Oh no you don't angelcakes!" Mikey yelled as he threw one of his nunchuks to wrap around her ankles, causing her to fall forward onto a table. She grabbed onto the nearby table leg and launched it at Mikey, who was just able to dodge out of the way before getting bashed in the face.

"Elena, we're just trying to help you!" Leo yelled, grabbing her attention just long enough so I could flip between her and the door. There was no way I was going to let her get out of here. No friggin way.

She snarled when she realized I now blocked her way and took a lower stance for fighting. I held my hands up in a sign of peace and tried to talk to her as I caught my brothers coming on each side to surround her. "Babe, it's us. Look, I don't know what's going on with ya, but you gotta snap out of it."

I kept talking to keep her distracted as I noticed Leo signaling instructions to the others. She continued to keep me in her line of sight, pacing back and forth as if she were about to pounce on a meal.

"Hey, we'll get you back to the lair and D can figure out what's going on with y-" At that moment the three lunged towards her. Mikey tackled her legs just as she swung around to punch Leo square in the face. I took the cue and raced forward, grabbing her from behind and preventing those claws from ripping his face open.

A howl of rage rang through the room as she frantically began clawing at her restraints, namely my arms. I yelled out in pain, but held tight as Leo was able to snare her arms and get her to stop ripping mine to shreds.

Shit that was going to hurt later.

Moments later her entire body went slack as Donnie pulled a syringe away from her neck, "I don't know just how long that will keep her knocked out, but it should give us enough time to get her out of here." He panted as he held his side; getting thrown into a wall twice would do that to a turtle. I moved to toss her over my shoulder so we could get the hell out of here, but Don stopped me so he could bandage my arms fast.

"Looks like she didn't sever any arteries, or else we'd have to carry her _and_ you back to the lair," he stated as he quickly wrapped my forearms.

"I'm fine," I grunted out as Leo secured her limbs and carried her over his shoulder, "we just need to get her back and fix her."

He caught my look as D finished securing the wraps, "I _told_ you this was a bad idea."

"Hey, we didn't know she would go all Predator on us!" Mikey called out from the back of the room. He had gone back there to double check on the researchers and judging by his face it confirmed my suspicions were right about their survival rate. "It was like someone just flipped a switch on her!"

"Enough!" Leo's voice quieted us all down as I handed D his bo staff from the door and flung them open to leave. "Donnie, think there's anything here we could use?"

"I'm not quite sure, Leo," he said quickly as he looked around the room, "This looks more of an experimentation room than anything else, and the only computers I'd even be able to _try_ and get anything from were trashed during the fight. I can try to salvage information from one of the least mangled stations…"

I knew Leo, and right now judging by his facial expression at the moment he was fighting to keep his cool. "Think any of the other rooms we've passed may give you what you need? How long do we have before she wakes up and turns into a tornado again."

"Maybe, but it's not guaranteed. They may or may not be connected to any servers that give access. For all I know each computer is a stand alone station, and we don't have time to investigate every single one of them in this building. I can't give you a definitive answer on keeping her under. That sedative was just a backup plan, and I'm a bit shocked that it even worked as fast as it did."

"Listen," I finally interrupted angrily as I clenched my fists to calm myself, "Can we just get the fuck out of here and _fix_ her?" The other three stood still as I fought to keep from blowing up more.

"Yeah," Leo readjusted her limp body over his shoulder and walked up next to me, "Let's do that." He stared deep into my eyes, and I could almost see he was as pissed off as I was, "And then we figure out who did this to her and take care of them once and for all."


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

It didn't take us long at all to get back to the lair, though I'm pretty sure Don may have broken at least a dozen traffic laws en route. I sat in the back and kept watch over Elena's still body, preventing it from rolling off the row of seats as we screeched around corners. All four of us were relatively quiet, though I could make out a few choice words from D up front, which really what set my nerves on fire; very rarely did he ever curse, but when he did it never meant anything good.

Time slowed as we got her into his lab; her limp body kept reminding me of how she looked when she got her ass kicked that one night with me and Casey. I still never forgave myself for that, even though she did. Granted, she was human at that point, but this was still Elena we were talking about. With or without fur she was still my E.

I stood by the entrance to Donnie's lab feeling helpless as ever, and I kept clenching my fists in anger. I hated feeling helpless, but I would just be in the way in there. Mikey must've had a similar feeling as he took a space over by the wall, watching Donnie and Leo work on her as best they could. They still kept her hands and feet bound, and had even added some straps to keep her secured to the bed, but Donnie insisted on turning her over to be face down so he could inspect her neck. I knew she had been having a little bit of a sore spot there now and then, but didn't know what that would have to do with her sudden change in behavior.

He and Leo conversed back and forth, but they spoke so low that I couldn't hear them. Donnie asked him questions and I could see him nod or shake his head, but then nerd boy got that look when he was frustrated about not knowing something. He poked and prodded around the base of her skull before finally stopping at a small spot.

"What is it D?" a small voice came from Mikey's spot. I felt a comforting presence approach, and I smiled slightly when I realized dad had walked up to the door to witness what was going on. He didn't have to even say anything, just be there, for all four of us to calm down slightly. It always felt like things would be ok when he was around. I felt his familiar hand rest itself on my shell as he watched everything unfolding inside.

Donatello had ignored Mikey's question for the moment as he pulled over a small scanner to hover over whatever it was he felt in her neck. He pressed a series of buttons to make a small purple box appear on her neck right on top of where he had been pressing and a few agonizing seconds passed before its results popped up on the projector above the scanner.

Nerd boy gave a low whistle before pushing the scanner away, "Wow, this is some impressive tech she's got in her. I'm surprised my scanners even picked up on it."

"What are we talking here, Donnie," Leo pushed for more information before D went on a sciency tirade, "Is that thing the reason she flipped? And can you fix her?"

Donatello rubbed his forehead in thought before pushing his glasses back up towards his face, "Well, to answer the first question…yes. The second? I'm not sure."

I narrowed my eyes at his answer and growled, "What do you mean?"

He glanced around and saw the confusion written on all of our faces. "Ok, so here's what I can tell. She's got an implant at the base of her skull that was rather impressive to be unseen by any of the tests and scans I've run on her since we've gotten her back. Like, _really_ impressive to be able to mask the electronic device inside her organic system without any trace of it being detectabl-"

The sound of my impatience snapped him from his tangent, "Right. So anyways, she's got something in her. I'm not really sure how it's connected to her mind, or what exactly it can do. From what we've seen it can definitely make her hostile. Now whether or not she's being controlled in a specific pattern or if it just flips on her anger response I'm not quite sure."

"So, what you're saying is that she's either the hulk or a killer robot?" Mikey quipped in, causing all of us to stop and look at him. "What?"

"For once you're actually not too far off, Mikey," Donnie continued after giving it a momentary thought. He walked over to a medical drawer and pulled out a syringe that he filled with a clear liquid as well as a scalpel and a few other medical tools.

"Here, help me Leo," he instructed as he lowered his goggles over his glasses to get a better look at the area. "I need you to hold her absolutely still, just like that." Donnie pulled the scanner over her neck again and pressed a few different buttons this time which gave an illuminated picture on top of her body about where her spine and skull were located; the small red dot must be the marker for whatever was in her neck. Small lines radiated from the dot and made a pattern that ran down her spine, past the borders of the scanner's box.

Donnie injected the liquid into a few spots on the back of her neck, steering clear of being right on top of the implant.

"So here is what I'm thinking the issue is," he hovered over her neck with the scalpel and pointed to the diagram on her. "Those lines are showing that this thing is deeply ingrained into her nervous system; I'm surmising it taps into the part of her brain that deals with anger. So when she's angry she's _really_ angry, similar to the hulk."

I could see Mikey give a small fist pump in excitement. "She can't control it, so everything becomes a potential threat in the fight or flight program in her brain. Since her animal DNA consists of both large weasel _and_ bear nine point nine times out of ten she will fight."

"The problem is this, and we saw it in the lab," he continued. "Those researchers were a much lesser threat than we posed at the moment. In all reality she should have ignored them and came after us a hundred percent of the time. And did you notice how she killed them versus the guards? She used her _kunai_ on them instead of her biological weapons. Even when she fought us she didn't use her ninja weapons."

He looked around to see if we were following along with him. Dad is the one who finally broke the silence, "Donatello, my son, are you saying someone could be controlling our miss Elena's actions?"

My genius brother nodded his head in affirmation, "Yes, sensei, that's precisely what I'm thinking. Someone _told_ her to kill those scientists. The guards were just collateral damage."

"That _motherfucker_ ," I spat out, staring up and meeting Leo's eyes. He knew exactly who I was talking about. I grimaced as I clenched my fist a little too tighoot, causing my forearms to burn under their bandages.

"Can he track her?" I asked point blank. "Can he see us right now?"

Donnie shook his head, "No, I don't think that is this kind of device. If that were the case he would have found her awhile ago. I think he's been sending signals out to try and see how effective his control over her could be." He thought momentarily before asking Leo, "You said she'd been complaining about intermittent pain in her neck the past few weeks?"

"Yeah, she would complain about it every once in awhile during our training sessions. We'd even have to take breaks every so often when it flared up, but we just thought it was a muscle strain."

"She came to me a few times as well," Donnie pulled over a screen on a moveable arm. A long list of data flew by as he motioned his hands, looking for some specific pieces. A few pictures of her skeletal system popped up, "We ran a ton of tests, but I never found anything. And in this area there are so many muscles that could cause the type of pain she was experiencing."

"So why didn't your scans pick up on that _thing_?" I asked exasperated.

"Because that _thing_ is not just a machine that's easily picked up on an xray," Donnie whirled back around to feel around. "It's actually quite impressive how the tech is able to mask itself as the surrounding tissue and muscle. Even right now when I feel around I can almost not even tell it's there."

"I think he's been sending signals this entire time, but she's been masked mainly by the sewers and proximity. But once she went topside and especially since we basically opened the door to his second dungeon it was much easier for him to try and control her."

"That building _did_ seem really easy to get into," Mikey quipped from the wall. I nodded in agreement with him.

"That lab was just one big trap…" I swear to god people needed to start listening to me when I said stuff. "Had anyone listened to me in the first place we wouldn't _be_ in this shitty situation."

"Raph, we'll play the blame game later," Leo interrupted irritably as he turned back towards Donnie, "Can you get it out?"

D paused a moment as who know how many different scenarios ran through his head. "It's not a risk-free endeavor, but I may be able to remove it without doing permanent damage."

A breath I had unknowingly been holding escaped. Permanent damage? What kind of permanent damage? It was as if he could hear my thoughts because he looked right at me.

"It's lodged into her spinal column and interconnected with her nervous system, Raph. Nothing is going to be simple here."

A few tense seconds passed as we stared at each other, but he is the one who finally broke the silence, "Look, you're not the only one that cares about her. She's in good hands."

It took a minute, but I finally nodded in approval. Without wasting another moment Donatello made sure her head was still secure in Leo's hands before dropping down his magnifying lenses on top of his goggles and taking a deep breath.

"OK, here we go."

The scalpel cleanly slit the skin apart, and Donnie swiftly grabbed some gauze to help soak up the small line of blood that trailed down her black and grey fur. He had to slice further into her muscle to get near where the device was situated, and I hated seeing some of the bright red blood mix in with the now dark and matted blood from her attack earlier.

The minutes ticked by painfully slow before I could hear Donnie mutter to himself, "Just a little further, and I start to be able to see this thing…"

"Um…guys?" I heard Mikey pipe in from across the room, but I ignored him. He always had a tendency to crack jokes at the wrong time, and I'd be damned if I let him distract me at a time like this.

"Guys?" His voice sounded more insistent this time, "I think we have a problem…"

I turned to yell at him, but the sound of a low growl interrupted us all. Before we could even react Elena whipped her head back, pushing Donnie out of the way and snapped her jaws towards anyone who got near.

"Shit!" Leo jumped back before she could rip into his hands, "Donnie she's waking up!"

"I can _see_ that Leo!" he screamed back as he jumped over to a nearby cabinet to get some more sedative.

Elena pulled against her bonds, and within a split second the sound of the restraint's fibers could be heard ripping.

"Shit, Mikey, help me out!" I yelled at him as I jumped on top of her back, straddling her back and hoping my body weight would help pin her down a little. I heard him yell something about not getting his good looks clawed off, but he jumped on her legs and helped to pin them down just as she was able to free them from their bonds.

Leo and I tried to grab onto her hands and arms in an attempt to bring them under control, but she was too fast for us. Within seconds she pushed up on the gurney and lifted herself and both of us off the surface; damn she was strong.

I had a feeling Mikey and I were about to go flying, so I wrapped my legs around her waist, one arm around her arms, and the other under her neck. There wasn't going to be any damn way she was going to claw or bite me this time dammit. I was too busy trying to fight the bucking bronco that I couldn't warn Mikey, and he got kicked effortlessly across the room, taking out a bookshelf in the process.

I felt every single muscle fiber under her skin flex all at once, and I was powerless to hold on; with her exertion against me holding her still at least I didn't get flung across the room this time, but only knocked back a few feet. Leo dashed past me and tried to tackle her, but her reflexes were too sharp for us and she easily dodged him. She jumped back as gracefully as if she could fly and perched on a nearby table to in order to survey her surroundings.

Her black eyes narrowed on the doorway and she let out a loud hiss as she pounced towards Splinter.

"Like hell you are!" I bellowed as I ran and jumped protectively over him. I could feel her claws bounce off my shell as she pushed past me and out into the lair.

"Dad, you ok?" I gasped as Leo and Mikey ran after her. I looked over him critically and made sure he didn't have any injuries.

"Raphael, I may be old, but I am not feeble," his voice calmed me down as I helped him up from the ground. "Thank you."

"Raph," I heard Donnie's frantic voice from across the room and turned just in time to catch a gun, "Take that with you. It's the strongest sedative I have, but I only had enough for the one dose, so don't screw it up. I've got an idea, but I need to be here to make it, and I can keep a lookout for wherever she's going from my station."

I nodded my acknowledgement and glanced over at dad one more time. "Go," he said resolutely, "She needs you now more than anything."

Without wasting another moment I took off, and through the use of our radios was able to catch up to Leo and Mikey pretty easily where I let them know dad was ok. They had taken to the rooftops above the streets and tracked her movement down below.

"What should we do Leo?" Mikey asked as we leapt across buildings, "It's not like we can just follow her down there where everyone can see us."

"Donnie, it's going to start getting light soon, which means more people on the streets." Leo put out on the radio. Yeah, in her rage having humans get in the way is definitely not the best idea. "What are our options?"

"I think I may be able to create a type of EMP on the fly, but you're going to have to give me some time," D's voice spoke quickly over the frequency. "Preferably keep her away from crowded areas."

"Nah shit, Sherlock," I snorted in irritation. "What other brilliant ideas can you give us?"

I ignored the frustration in his voice, "Your beacons show you're moving in a generally northeastern direction. About four miles from your current location there's a wooded park that you may be able to steer her towards, barring her changing course or anything. What exactly is she doing?"

At that moment we heard a honk below us and watched as a taxi cab slammed on his brakes just in time to prevent hitting her. Elena roared in anger as she brought her fists down on the front of the cab, denting large craters in the metal. She reached down and grabbed ahold of the car's bumper and flipped it over, exposing its undercarriage. A split second later and she was on the vehicle, angrily clawing at the pieces of metal.

"One sec Don, got a situation!" Leo yelled as the three of us descended down to the streets to help the cab driver.

"Hey Yogi!" Mikey shouted to grab her attention at the mouth of the alley he landed by, which worked rather quickly. Her snarl reverberated through the area and she bounded off the car after him.

"Oh man! I didn't plan this far ahead!" he screeched as he ran down the alley. Leo and I flipped the car right side up quickly and made an anonymous call to get an ambulance out to check on the passed out driver before taking off down the alley after the pair. Not only was it easy to follow the sound of Mikey's hollering in the alley and our radios, but all we really needed to do was follow the amount of trash and debris strewn about.

"Sorry, Donnie, she's on the move again and after Mikey this time," Leo patched back in. "What's the verdict?"

A few moments of furious typing echoed over the static before Donnie replied, "Just a few more minutes here and I'll be done and can intercept where you're going, but we have other problems. It sounds like a few reports have come in about a rampaging bear to the police scanners, along with your call to 911, so there's going to be more patrols in the area."

Of course there would be. It wouldn't be our life if we didn't have friggin issues pop up at every corner.

Leo and I turned a corner in an alleyway and were finally able to see the back of Elena as she was still in hot pursuit of Mikey. In a straight up foot race she would beat him hands down, and he realized it, so he tossed as many obstacles in between them as he could. I grabbed the tranquilizer gun nerd boy gave me and tried to keep it steady as I took aim, which was friggin hard to do while running.

I took my shot and gave a small hoot of joy as the tiny dart hit her in the back. This would all be over soon, she just needed to go to sleep now.

Except it didn't happen. She didn't slow down. She reached back and ripped the damn dart out of her back and threw it to the ground. Leo and I saw it didn't have any liquid in it as we ran by, so we knew she got the dose.

"Um, Donnie? I don't think that dart of yours worked, because she's still truckin after Mikey pretty good."

"What are you talking about? That dose should have been large enough to take down a _few_ bears or maybe even an elephant," his voice sounded confused. "Oh man, I wonder…"

A few moments went by as we figured he was looking up some information, and I was getting tired of waiting. "Any day now Donnie…"

"Ok, ok, _ok_ …" he huffed, "Geez it's not like I'm also trying to create a device to counteract the device already implanted _in_ her-"

" _Donnie_!"

"The only thing I can come up with is it may have to do with her ability to regenerate and heal fast," he explained. "Maybe there was also some genetic manipulation that would allow her to essentially burn off the sedation from her system before it can take hold. Or maybe her body adapted to where it wouldn't affect her again. That would prove quite useful on the battlefield."

"Great guys, just great!" we heard Mikey yell from in front of us, "That's all cool and all, but you're not the one being _chased_ right now!"

He ducked a swipe from one of her paws and quickly flung one of his nunchucks at a nearby pipe, using the momentum to swing him around a corner fast and barely ducking another attack. "C'mon! I'm cute, but I'm not Goldilocks! I didn't steal no porridge!"

It only threw her off track by a second, but Elena quickly redirected and followed him down the alley. "Leo, I don't think he realizes that runs out to a bigger street, it's not going to be an alley!"

Just like Don, I never hear Leo cuss. Nothing good could come of this.

We skidded around the corner and saw the realization hit Mikey as he instinctively stopped as he came to the edge of the alley that bordered with the four lane highway.

"Mikey!" we both yelled as Elena caught up to him and grabbed him by the back of the shell and slammed him into the ground, sending both of them sliding to the middle of the street. I could hear cars honk as the morning traffic had picked up, and a few slammed on their brakes to prevent hitting the pair. E picked Mikey up again by the shell and smashed him down hard into the hood of the car in front of her.

I didn't even slow down as I plowed straight into them, grabbing her by the torso as Leo grabbed onto Mikey's hands to help break her grip on him. "Leave him alone!" I bellowed as she sounded out her anger in response. I jumped back as she tried to take a swipe at me and took a stance, waiting on her to take another step.

"Leo, go get him safe…I got this," I said calmly, not taking my eyes off her. I could see both of them out of the corner of my eyes dart back into another alley, Mikey moving a bit slower than normal, and I grinned.

"Hey doll, ya want someone to chase and beat up on? Come and get me…" Her black eyes narrowed as she launched herself at me and I leaned back just in time to feel the swipe of her claws above where my face had just been.

"Want some? Come get it!" I taunted her as I leapt into the nearest alley and took off, glancing back to see if she had taken the bait. I instantly ducked as a trash can flew past my head.

Yep, she took it.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

I breathed out heavily as Elena chased after me relentlessly. For the most part I was able to stay away from her, but we connected rather forcefully a few times here and there. I patched through to Leo and Mikey to check on him, and was relieved to hear he was more rattled than injured.

"Donnie, any updates yet?" I grunted as I heaved a dumpster in her path. Damn, when was she going to start tiring out?

"I'm almost finished with the device and then I can head out to intercept," his voice crackled over the radio. "Leo, you and Mikey need to get off the rooftops soon. Sounds like there's been enough calls to the NYPD that they're sending out a helicopter. Your fight in the road didn't help the situation either."

"Well what the hell did you expect me to do? Let her rip Mikey in half?" I grunted as Elena got my legs out from underneath me. I quickly rolled over to my back and latched onto her arms just in time to prevent her from gouging me. She snapped her jaws angrily, but before he could take a chunk out of my arms I yelled as I got my feet between me and her and kicked as hard as I could, "Get offa me!"

I felt slightly bad as I saw her body crash against the alley wall, but I knew deep down that she'd be fine. She landed on her feet as I got up and stood there, studying me like I was some sort of prey.

"This would go better for _all_ of us if you would just snap outta it! C'mon Elena!" She gave a small pause and panted momentarily, but kept me in her gaze.

I held my hands up to show I was no threat to her, "It's me, doll. It's Raph. Brad…that asshole's got your head screwed up right now by implanting something in you, and we're trying to fix it."

Her head cocked to the side at the mention of my name, and I saw her claws slowly start to retract back into her paws.

"That's it…you know you can fight this babe, I know you can beat him." I hesitantly took a few slow steps towards her, hoping that I could snap her out of whatever trance she was stuck in. Her eyes were still black, but I could swear I saw some gray flash through.

I got within a couple feet of her, so close that I could almost reach out and touch her, when the thunderous sound of a helicopter passed overhead in a surveillance sweep. The distraction broke any chance of her coming out of her fog as she hissed at the contraption above. She swung her paw and hit me straight in the plastron, sending me flying backwards into the brick.

You know…I was really getting sick of getting thrown around. I prepared for the onslaught of teeth and claws that had a pattern of happening, but when I realized it hadn't I looked around and noticed she was at the end of the alley turning a corner.

"Fuck! God dammit!" I yelled as I jumped up and took off after her.

"What? Raph, what's going on?" Leo's voice buzzed over the walkie talkie. "Oh wait…nevermind."

"Damn, she's running like Raph asked her to marry him," Mikey painfully laughed.

"I swear to God Mikey if she didn't break your shell I'm going to when I see y-"

"Cut it out guys," Leo interrupted, "Donnie, you got eyes on her? We can't go back up to track her. The sun's almost up."

"One second," the sound of furious typing echoed through my ears, "Yeah, looks like she's on St. Nicholas going north. If you three split up you may be able to herd her towards Highbridge Park. There's plenty of cover and trees that we could make this work."

Distance running was definitely not a thing I was good at, and I could feel my sides lighting on fire. Of course that could also be from getting pulverized repeatedly, but whatever.

"Guys, we have another problem. She just flipped a police car about…Ok, she's about three blocks ahead of you Raph. Keep going that way. Leo, you and Mikey need to turn right and head towards there."

"Roger that, Donnie. What are we looking for?"

The sound of gunshots echoed throughout the alley I was running down and I instantly felt sick to my stomach. I screamed out, "What was that?!"

Donnie seemed rushed, "Oh man, they're taking shots at her. Raph, turn right at the next block and you'll be able to see her. She's thrown a few cars onto the sidewalk. Thankfully no civilians are in the area, but I can't tell the status of the officers. They're calling in reinforcements."

I felt an extra wind show up out of nowhere and I pushed as hard as I could to head that way. Sure enough as soon as I whirled around the corner I could see smoke rising up from one of the overturned cars. I knew there was nothing I could do for any of the officers, but help was on the way; they'd be way more equipped to deal with any injuries.

I'm way more equipped to deal with the larger and furrier threat at hand.

There were a few police officers that took cover behind the doors to their squad cars and taking pot shots at Elena. She was angry at the cars and jumping from one to another and smashing anything heavy onto them. She had already flipped a couple, but I feared just exactly what else she would do to them.

She yelled in pain as a stray bullet struck her in the thigh. Reaching over she grabbed a bench and ripped it from its foundation, tossing it towards the officers.

"Stop, don't hurt them!" I yelled out, catching her attention, though not stopping my pursuit. She grimaced again as her arm got hit and turned to bolt down the next alley. I didn't even bother to look at see what kind of reactions may have come from the officers, but I figured they were stunned enough at me since the gunshots stopped. Only a few had seen us up close and personal during the Kraang invasion, so we still kept our distance afterwards.

"Donnie's she's on the move again," I called over the radio. Turning a corner I met up once again with Leo and Mikey and the three of us chased after her.

"I'm working on it, almost done now. Her path has become rather erratic, but that's probably due to the helicopter above," the exasperation began to wear in his voice, "Just a few more tweaks."

"If she keeps going like this she's likely to kill someone before Donnie can even get here," Leo's tone took a serious note. "We may have to think of alternate plans here to stop her."

"Leo, what the fuck are you trying to get at?" I growled out. Had we not been in hot pursuit I'd have punched his ass back to last Tuesday for even thinking what I think he was thinking. The other two must've had the same thoughts because both Mikey and Donnie shrieked in unison.

The bullet in her leg must be affecting her, since she was running slower and we were actually able to keep eyes on her, but she had lost a decent amount of blood in the process.

"You know what I'm saying Raph, and I know you three are going to fight me on this, but we have to think about what's best for the city," Leo said harshly. "I don't want to do it as much as you all, but we don't know what Brad may have planned for her. She can pretty much take all four of us on at once. And I know Elena would NOT want to be his puppet, especially if it means he's using her to hurt others."

"But Leo, that's why we have a genius on our side. Donnie's making something that will fix her," Mikey argued, "He's just gotta speed it up!"

"For the thousandth time, I said I'M WORKING ON IT!" we all cringed as we heard Don scream over the channel.

"Leo, brother, I get what you're saying, but I'm not gonna let that happen," I spat out. "I'm going to fight to get her back, to my last dying breath if I have to, but she's not going to hurt anyone else." I sped up, trying to catch up to her. Truthfully, I could feel myself getting tired, but if it meant her life was on the line I would run until my body collapsed.

All of a sudden I heard my phone start chirping from my belt. Who the fuck was calling me at a time like this? Confused, I grabbed it out, "Yeah?"

"Raph? It's Anya," Elena's sister's angry voice rang through the speakerphone, "What in the hell is going on right now?"

"What are you talking about? Nothing's going on," I lied through my teeth.

"Like hell nothing's going on! I'm looking at footage on the TV of Elena attacking some police officers and you chasing her." Her voice sounded just like E when she was pissed off. "So answer me. Just what in the _fuck_ is going on with my sister?"

I made some crackling sounds into the phone's mic, "What? Sorry, I'm getting horrible reception right now, I'll have to call you back." I turned my phone off as she flew into a tirade and knew I'd be getting my ass chewed later on. I'll get her back for ya, Anya. I'll get her back for all of us.

I heard a small cheer over the radio just as soon as I clicked Anya off, "Guys, I've got it and heading to the truck now. She's still heading in the general direction of the park, so see if you three can corral her somewhere in the woods where we can hide from any police patrols."

"Sure," Mikey joked, "We'll just ask if she wants to go eat out of a pic-a-nic basket!"

I rolled my eyes at his lame joke. I was just totally ready for this to be over with and get our shit back to normal.

"So how do we herd someone who doesn't want to be herded and can beat our asses?" I looked over at Leo for any bright ideas; he was the one who usually came up with them. I could tell the three of us were all getting tired from running full speed for this long, but we had to hold on just a bit longer.

"We can't go to the rooftops with that helicopter scanning the area," he piped in after a moment's thought. "Raph, you stay on her tail right here. Mikey, you got some speed left?" My youngest brother nodded. "Ok, so you go left, and I go right. We'll speed up to block her on either side and try to steer her towards the park."

They broke off from our little group and quickly sped up to be in the alleys on either side of the one we were running in. Thankfully this part of the city was pretty straightforward when it came to the building layout.

"I see ya Mikey," Leo reported. "So Donnie, what are we supposed to do once we get her there?"

"There are some back roads towards the north end of the park, so that's where I'm going to park the truck. I'm going to have to get close to her in order to get this thing to work, so uh…I'm hoping none of us get scratched?"

Ugh with the lame jokes from the B squad lately. "Ok," I could hear Leo, "We're coming up on the park now, so we'll see you in a few minutes. Mikey, Raph, you ready?"

I could see E glance over her shoulder to see if she still had pursuers. Yeah, I was ready.

Digging deep down I pushed hard to catch up to get within a few feet of her. Even from this distance I could hear her breathing was a lot heavier and labored, though I didn't know if that was from her getting tired or getting shot a couple of times.

The ears on top of her head twitched to all sides and I realized she knew exactly where all three of us were. I could see the treeline just on the other side of the street we were coming up on, and I think she thought she may be able to lose us in the undergrowth. She bounded over the street and used the fence that bordered the area as a springboard into the trees.

Fortunately the woods were sparse enough that the three of us were able to follow closely enough on the ground below; I truthfully didn't think most of those trees could even hold my weight, and I wasn't built to swing around like a damn monkey.

"Keep eyes on her guys," Leo ordered, "She's fast and probably thinks she can lose us in here."

"Not a friggin chance," I grunted as I jumped over a bush.

"I see you guys on my monitor," Donnie patched in, "keep going in that same direction and I hopefully have something that can help slow her down."

"You heard the turtle," I said as I kept her in my eyesight, "Let's start closing this in." From my peripherals I could see Mikey and Leo start moving closer to E, effectively boxing her in.

I could hear nerd boy mutter softly through the coms, "Just a little more…just a little-"

Above us I heard an angry snarl as Elena made to jump to a different tree, but got tangled in a seemingly invisible netting of sort. Her limbs flailed as her body couldn't finish the jump and she fell hard to the ground. Donnie popped out from a nearby bush and blocked off the only exit path she had.

The three of us stopped and surrounded E; thank God we could finally stop with the fucking running. My sides felt like they were on fire, but I kept an open stance and prepared for anything she could do. The others did the same, and both me and Leo kept our weapons stashed. We didn't want to hurt her, but at least Mikey's and Donnie's weapons were on the less-lethal list of things we could use.

Within moments the remains of the netting fluttered to the ground and we were now surrounding a very pissed off bear, weasel, whatever the hell she was. She dropped to all fours and growled deeply; the hairs on her back raised up enough that we could see the ridge through her clothes.

She didn't wait for us to respond and lashed out quickly at Donnie; he must've been the lucky target since he was the one who blocked her exit now. He jabbed his bo at her neck and used the other end to sweep underneath and knock her legs out. The three of us wasted no time and jumped on her, dodging flailing claws. I grabbed her from behind and held under her neck with my arm to keep it still and prevent her from biting one of us again. Leo helped with her arms while Mikey went after her legs again.

Her struggling roar delved into a scream and it struck to my very core. I really hope we weren't hurting her.

She flexed again to try and break free, but was a lot weaker after our brisk jog and bullet holes. Donnie ran up in between me and Leo and shoved this weird looking device directly onto the back of her neck and pushed a button. Prongs emerged from the sides of the metal box and dug into her skin, fastening it to her.

"Um, you guys may want to back up!" he yelled as he himself stood back a few paces. I let Leo and Mikey get away first before I let go, not wanting to chance it backfiring and her escaping _again_.

The moment I released my grip Elena reached up and tried to rip the device from her neck. Not even a split second later the loud whir revved up before a huge arc of electricity flashed on the back of her head.

Elena's body instantly dropped to the ground smoking, "Donnie! What the fuck was that?!"

I ran over to her and had to jump back as a small discharge jumped over to me when I touched her. Jesus that fucking hurt. Her body was limp and not moving, smoke curling up from her neck and extremities. I reached down to her face and realized I didn't hear anything.

"Donnie, she's not breathing!"

Donatello knelt down next to me and pulled her face to his ear, his expression fell when he realized I was right. He placed his ear down onto her chest and I saw him get even more serious. Without wasting another moment he straightened up and began doing chest compressions after telling me to move back. Mikey and Leo both looked distraught, but stood up and backed away a couple steps to give the three of us some room. He counted quietly to himself as he did reps on her chest before giving her mouth to mouth, attempting to get her heart starting again.

I grabbed her limp hand and held it to my lap, stroking her fur. "What exactly did that thing _do_ to her?"

Donnie must've kept counting in his head as he talked in between compressing her chest and giving mouth to mouth, "I had to energize it enough to overcome that electrical device in her neck, but I also had to compensate for any regenerative capabilities her genes could provide that might shield it somehow." He paused to breathe more air into her lungs, "I knew this could be a possibility, but I also didn't factor in any injuries she may have gotten along the way."

I tightened my grip on her hand and couldn't prevent myself from shouting at him, "You _knew_ it could do this to her?"

"What _else_ would you have me do?" he stopped to yell back at me. "Would you rather her continue on her rampage and end up killing someone…to be used as a killing machine? How do you think she would feel if she knew everything that's happened?"

A small flinch in my hand drew my attention as I saw Elena's gray eyes flutter back open with tears escaping the sides. Without any hesitation I yanked her up from the ground and wrapped my arms protectively around her, thanking the gods that she was awake. She weakly flailed her limbs at the sudden jarring but then sank into me.

"E…doll, thank god you're ok," I said quietly, holding her head gently against me. I could feel her body start to tremble and I worriedly pulled back. Everything on her seemed to be trembling, and I looked over at Donnie, hoping for some sort of explanation.

"Here, it could be a byproduct of all the trauma she's sustained. I did just try to Young Frankenstein her," he said as he helped me readjust how she was sitting, "Help me lean her against this tree so I can examine and see what else is going on."

Elena weakly put her hand up in the air and waved him away. "Thanks Donnie," she croaked out, "for everything. I'll be ok though. I just need a minute…"

"We'll give you as much as you need babe," I shifted over to kneel next to her. She reached down and grabbed my hand before bringing it up to plant a small kiss on my knuckles. She instantly hissed at the motion and held her upper arm.

"Ouch ouch ouch, I think I still have a bullet in there," she groaned as she pulled up the fabric of the sleeve that covered her arm. Donnie reached over and inspected the wound.

"Looks like your healing powers may have already started working on this; I don't see an entry point, though I see the faint lines of a possible scar." He looked at the other side of the arm and realized there was no exit point.

"Your leg's wound was a through and through, but this one needs to come out." His eyes became dark as a realization hit him, "If your last encounter with a sedative was any indication, I don't think any sort of numbing agent is going to work."

A grim look washed over E's face as she understood what he was insinuating, "Well, let's get it over with. I already feel like I got hit by lightning, what more could make it feel worse?"

Donnie fetched the small med kit he carried around everywhere with him and quickly disinfected the small blade it carried, hesitating as he held it above her arm.

"I'll be as fast as I can, I swear," he apologized. I felt her clench down on my hand as he sliced open the freshly healed skin and muscle before using a pair of forceps to dig down and grab onto the metal bullet.

She exhaled loudly as he said he got it out and stretched out the sore arm. Leo shifted uncomfortably from behind me and crossed his arms over his chest. "Elena," he said quietly, "you knew you got shot in the arm. Does that mean you saw everything that happened?"

I saw her eyes drop in shame and got angry that he'd bring that up right this second, "Leo, can't you see she's been through enough shit for one day?"

"It _would_ be useful to know how the device worked on her awareness; if it was purely a-" nerd boy began but stopped as he saw my death glare. "Ooooooor we could wait until another time."

He handed Elena a canister of water which she gratefully accepted and took a few sips from. "No, it's ok," she replied quietly, "I saw everything. _Everything_. It was like a screen of red fell over my eyes and I saw it as it all happened, but couldn't do anything to stop my body from reacting. Every guard I mangled, every kunai that sank into those scientists' chests, even…" A panicked look came across her face, "Oh no, is Splinter ok?"

"Yeah, he's fine," I reassured her. "He's a tough old bastard, so don't worry about him."

She nodded her acknowledgement, "What about those police officers from earlier? Are they ok?" Donnie fiddled around on his wrist computer and pulled up some information.

"Looks like one is in critical condition, but most of the others weren't seriously harmed," he frowned and then looked up towards the sky as we could barely see helicopter pass overhead. "They still have the search team out hunting for this supposed escaped zoo animal, so it might be wise if we move locations soon."

"Good," she muttered with a slight edge to her voice, "Because I know where I'm going next. I know where he's at."


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

I've always been in control of my choices in life. Even going against my parents' wishes and to branch out and do what made me happy during college didn't stop me from taking control of _my_ life.

I've never experienced anything like I did when that red veil dropped over my vision. I had no power over my own limbs. I still _felt_ everything though. I still felt every hit, every drop of blood that was spilt because of _my_ actions, even though I was incapable of stopping it.

I don't know how much I screamed in agony, how much I screamed and cried over every single life I took, over how much damage I was causing to not only the city, but to my own loved ones. Each attack and hit I made on them felt like a sharp knife to the heart. If there were any way I could end it all and no longer exist, I would have gladly accepted that fate in order to protect them.

But no, all I could do was sit trapped in my own mind, watching helplessly as my body was used against my will. It really was the hospital all over again, though on a grander scale this time.

Everything seemed to exist in slow motion during that time of suppression; it was as if Brad had _wanted_ me to suffer every single moment of my mental incarceration. So when the electricity surged and shorted my body out, causing all the pain to disappear, I was happy.

The blackness held me close, caressing both body and soul, then bade me to move on to let the nothingness consume me. After causing so much heartache and damage I was more than happy to oblige. But I kept hearing voices, familiar voices. It was from past memories of the past few months, of all the happy times I've had with both my real and turtle family. I felt warmth from those memories, and felt a longing to be held by a certain bullheaded asshole just one more time. I didn't want my last memory of Raphael to be one of me attacking him in the alley.

I'd just like to see him, _really_ see him one more time. I felt pressure on my chest, but it wasn't uncomfortable. With each pulse the warmth spread further and further through my body, until I was finally able to open my eyes…my _own_ eyes.

 _…_ _to be used as a killing machine? How do you think she would feel if she knew everything that's happened?_

I instantly knew who and what they were talking about, and I felt a few tears spring to my already wet eyes in remembrance. I couldn't do anything to stop the killing of those guards and scientists. I stood by helplessly as my body acted on its own accord, though I felt their blood, heard their screams, smelled their terror.

Parts of my body twitched with life again; and within moments a large red clad turtle had yanked me up from the ground and squeezed me so hard I felt like I may pass out again. I thrashed at first, almost instinctively after so much battling, but quickly melted into his strong arms and solid plastron. Raph snaked his hand up to cradle my head against his chest, and though I wanted to do nothing but cry my eyes out for days, I didn't have the energy to.

He whispered words of thanks and I swore he was trembling with emotion. But he pulled back and I realized _I_ was the one who was trembling. Words tumbled through my head, wanting to escape at that moment, but my mouth didn't want to cooperate. Donatello leaned over and helped to prop me up against the trunk of a nearby tree, its rigid and study bark giving me something solid to stay anchored to.

I knew that look the purple clad turtle would get when he was about to go into full on 'Doctor Donnie' mode, which usually meant a bunch of annoying tests and exams that would make you want to rip your hair out one by one, and I _really_ wasn't in the mood for a full on exam.

"Thanks Donnie," I croaked out before coughing and clearing my throat more. I guess all the hollering I was doing earlier along with getting zapped would do that. "For everything. I'll be ok though. I just need a minute…"

I heard Raphael kneel down next to me telling me to take as much time as I needed. God how I missed him, even though technically it had only been a couple hours since my whole existence had been turned on its head. His hand was right by my own, so I grasped it and brought it up to my lips.

Oh man, that was a bad mistake. The pain seared through my entire arm, but concentrated on one specific point and began radiating heat that wouldn't go away. It itched too, which didn't help because I knew no amount of scratching would help relieve the pain.

"Ouch ouch ouch, I think I still have a bullet in there," I groaned out as I pulled the fabric for my sleeve up over the injury with my good arm. It sucked even more because it was almost the exact same pain I had when I first _got_ the damned thing. Donnie gently grasped my arm and looked it over.

Of course I was such an uber awesome creature that could magically heal faster than anything else in the world. That meant it pretty much enclosed the damn bullet in my arm. Why couldn't someone engineer genes to expel foreign material like this so I wouldn't have to feel the stupid thing anymore.

Oh great, and now Donnie's saying the sedative isn't going to work. Ugh…Let's just get it over with already.

He grabbed his med kit and within a minute was ready to retrieve the bullet. He apologized and then went to work. Oh god the pain was immeasurable as I felt every single centimeter of skin and muscle be cut away. Flashes of memories from the hospital flooded my head and I had to grab onto something to keep from flipping out. Fortunately Raph was at the ready, though I'm sure his hand was going to be sore from all of my squeezing.

I clenched my jaw and tried to will some of the pain away, though thankfully it didn't take Donnie long to get the damn thing out. I stretched out my arm and felt relief in the small void that had contained the intrusion.

Leo called attention to my earlier words, "Elena, you knew you got shot in the arm. Does that mean you saw everything that happened?"

I didn't want to look at anyone, didn't want them to think I had anything to do what those actions earlier, didn't want them to think I was some sort of monster that _liked_ killing and hurting people. Raph jumped in on Leo to lay off me, that I had been through enough for one day.

Donnie handed me a canister of water which I politely took. The cool water helped to soothe my sore throat, and I took a few more sips as I contemplated how I was going to explain everything to them.

"No, it's ok," I said quietly, insisting Leo's line of questioning was quite all right. "I saw everything. _Everything_. It was like a screen of red fell over my eyes and I saw it as it all happened, but couldn't do anything to stop my body from reacting. Every guard I mangled…every kunai that sank into those scientists' chests, even…"

A flashback from the lair permeated all the fogginess and I about choked on my words. "Oh no, is Splinter ok?" I would never be able to forgive myself if I hurt the elder rat.

"Yeah, he's fine," Raph said reassuringly, squeezing my hand a little. "He's a tough old bastard, so don't worry bout him."

Good, I hope he won't hold that against me the next time I see him. "What about those police officers from earlier? Are they ok?" I watched as Donatello fiddled with his wrist computer as a few pages projected above it.

"Looks like one is in critical condition, but most of the others weren't seriously harmed," he frowned as he read something and looked up towards the sky. The trees had filled out during the earlier part of the month, so it was hard to see, but I could hear the whirling blades of the police helicopter pass overhead. A pilot, copilot, and two in the back…probably snipers; their heartbeats were strong and loud so that meant they were on high alert and ready to shoot at anything weird.

I tried to ignore the thumping of their hearts as I tuned back into what Donnie was saying. "They still have the search team out hunting for this supposed escaped zoo animal, so it might be wise if we move locations soon."

"Good," I muttered, a slight edge to my voice. The last directions I had been receiving were still echoing in my every fiber before the line of communication was cut by that electrical shock. "Because I know where I'm going next. I know where he's at."

Each turtles' reaction was different, but each held a mix of surprise and anger. "Well, I don't know the exact _address_ but I know what it looks like and what it's near. I'll know it when I see it."

"So what, you just want to wander around the city looking for this asshole? Is it just me or didn't we just fucking _do_ this. And look what happened." Raph tried to control his anger, and he was having an awful hard time doing so. "You know you pretty much _died_ right now, right? Like your heart stopped and everything. And you think I'm just going to let you _walk in there_? Did that jolt fry your mind?!"

I knew he was going to be angry, and he had every right to be. "Raph, I-"

"No," he interrupted as he squeezed my hand again, "You can't go, I can't…" I could hear his voice slightly cracking as he looked down and away from everyone. "I just can't lose you _again_."

My irritation softened as I put myself in his shoes. What would I have done if something had happened and _he_ had disappeared for months? Then come back to be mind-fucked into destroying a bunch of stuff? I can't guarantee that I also wouldn't be a mess and determined not to let him go back. I reached over and cupped his face in my hand, stroking the side of his face with my thumb. He placed his hand over mine and I finally got a glimpse into the sadness he had been feeling.

"I know you don't want me to go, but I _have_ to," I whispered as I leaned my forehead onto his. "I have to end this."

"Did you have specific instructions when you were under?" Leo's voice chimed in gently. "Like can he see through you right now?"

I shook my head, "No, I don't believe so. I think he realized we were going to be at the lab, and whether or not we triggered some sort of alarm accidentally I don't think he can see through me." I scooted over to Raph more and leaned against him to help calm us both down; he reached his arm around and pulled me closer. "It was more like a _feeling_ that anyone with a white coat had to die, but anyone who stood in my way was collateral damage. If that even makes any sense."

"Actually, the device in your neck may be more of a one-way receiver if nothing else," Donatello piped in after I finished. "Just a receptacle for data and orders, but not much else. He may have had a signal set on a repeating loop to be broadcast at a specific time each day in the hopes that it would get to your receiver eventually."

"Would he be able to tell if she's no longer under its control?" Leo continued his line of questioning.

The genius took a moment to ponder the inquiry, "No, a receiver wouldn't be able to transmit any data back to its base computer. But if he had security features that I wasn't able to detect then he may already know her orders were fulfilled, which is why she got the signal to return to base."

"So it's like he's expecting her to show up then, right?" I felt the turtle next to me tense at his brother's insinuation.

"No way," Raph interrupted as he pulled away from me, standing up and pacing like a caged animal, "No way we're sending her in there as bait."

I stood up slowly, holding onto the tree for balance. My muscles still twitched with the exertion I had experienced over the past few hours, and above all I relished a hot shower and nap. But those things would have to wait.

"Have anything else in mind?" I replied as I leaned against the strong oak, "If we take too much longer he'll just move and then try this all over again."

"She's got a point," Donatello chimed in. "Unless we get her back to the lair and I run some very specific tests I can't guarantee that the device in her neck is nullified. It may have shorted it out for now, but I can't say that it won't come back online at some point. The lapse in his control over her may just be temporary."

Raph screamed out as he punched a hole in a nearby tree, "You've gotta be fuckin kidding me!" I could see the conflict in his mind, knowing that for the moment I was safe, but at any time I may be taken over again. "She can barely even stand there! Can't we just take her back home and chain her up while we go punch his ass into tomorrow?"

Before I could even bark a protest Leo stood between me and Raph and poked at his plastron, "Absolutely not! You see what she can do? What if she gets loose while we're out? You wanna take that risk of her hurting sensei? Are you going to turtle up and take the blame if she gets out and kills someone?" His face turned slightly embarrassed as he glanced back at me, "Not that you'd do it on purpose, no offense."

"None taken," I replied quietly as I stood straight up and stretched my muscles. They were sore, but I could feel my energy starting to replenish itself. "Look, I know nothing I can say is going to change your mind hon, but I _have_ to do this. What better way to use a ticking time bomb than to point it towards someone who needs to get blown up?"

I heard a few chuckles out of the other three brothers, and saw a slight smile quickly appear and then disappear off of Raph's face. "I know it's not the best of circumstances, but it's what we've got to work with. And we're losing time, I can feel it in my bones."

I could see he wanted to be angry, wanted to punch another defenseless tree, and I would probably be the same way had our roles been reversed. His fists clenched open and close slightly for a few split seconds before he finally exhaled loudly in defeat.

"Once your mind is set there's no changing it," he grumbled. "You're more stubborn than me."

I felt a small smile break on my face as I went up and wrapped my arms around him. He returned the gesture as I heard the others get ready to leave. Donnie packed his med kit and began explaining that once we got back to the truck he'd be able to put in the specific details that I knew about the location as well as its surrounding landmarks to find exactly where I was instructed to return to.

As we separated from our embrace I turned to find Michelangelo being unusually quiet and off to the side of the group. He approached me as the others began the short trek back to the van. Without missing a beat he grabbed me and pulled me close for a warm hug. "Glad to have ya back sis."


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

The sun was well over the horizon and we had to double check our surroundings before we exited the woods to the garbage truck. Thankfully this part of the park didn't have heavy foot traffic this early in the day, so we were able to dart one by one to its doors. Once inside I sat with Donnie at one of the few computers and gave him all of details of where my body was previously going; I could feel that we weren't too terribly far from my destination.

He confirmed my suspicions when he pointed to a spot on the map that was within a few miles of our location; it was across the Harlem River from the train yards near a self storage facility. "Is this the place?" he asked as he pulled up a satellite and street view of the area.

I felt tingles of the former rage that had flooded my system and knew, "Yeah. Yeah, that's the place." I pointed to a general area facing the river, "It's in one of those units, I just _know_ it."

"A storage shed? Really? Wonder if that's where he keeps his Christmas decorations," I could hear Mikey pipe in from somewhere in the back. I promptly heard him suck in some breath, so I had a feeling someone hit him for his joke. I didn't even have to guess who.

"So whatta we lookin for," Raph's voice rose over the others. "He got a secret lab or something going on in one of those?"

Donnie typed some on his computer and frowned slightly, "I'm not pulling up anything that would indicate a base of operations in that area. No increased electrical use, things of that nature. Unless he took extra precautions to hide his tracks this time. Even his surveillance is hidden. I can't really say definitively since I'm not at my computer in the lair."

"Which means the lab was _definitely_ a trap," I felt myself speak out. I glanced over and saw a smug look on Raph's face, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You were _right_. I'll give you that one." I smiled a little in amusement as his dumb ass grin got bigger. "So Leo, what's the next step?"

He had taken a spot by the front of the truck and had been listening intently to the situation. He usually was pretty good at determining risk versus reward, but even he seemed a bit clueless. "Well," he began, "we either go back home to survey the scene more and get as much reconnaissance as possible…"

He held his hand up to silence the red turtle who was nodding eagerly, " _Which_ would risk us taking too long and possibly losing him again, as well as opening up Elena for another possible mental invasion. Or we do what Raph _normally_ wants to do and go in guns blazing."

The four brothers remained quiet for a few moments before I decided to break the silence, "Um, do _I_ get a say in this? I mean, it's all because of me that this is happening, right?" Leo nodded as I stood up in the middle of the space.

"Look, the odds are shitty, but when have the odds _not_ been shitty for you guys?" I turned and looked at each one of them as I talked. "I've watched the news over the years, seen the stories and articles describing 'weird' circumstances that ended up preventing some major disasters that could have hurt so many people. You have _saved_ so. many. lives. On top of worrying about y'all, do you know what I thought that whole time?"

I locked eyes with Raph, "How absofuckinglutely proud I am. You risk your lives nearly every day to keep this city safe from threats both big and small. Now, I don't know what all Brad has in mind, but I could either be a small _or_ a big threat. And I want to help stop him before he does something else that gets someone killed."

The looks on each of their faces told the truth; they knew we needed to act, and to act fast. "So why don't we go take the fight to this bastard once and for all?"

Determination fell upon most of their faces as Donnie stood up and pulled me close into a large hug. Soon I felt other arms wrap around me as Leo and Mikey joined the group hug. We all looked over to Raph with goofy smiles on our faces, "Wha…you gonna leave us all hangin hun?"

The red clad turtle rolled his eyes as he stood up and took a step over to us. He batted away the other three and drew me into a deep hug, "Fine, but if you get killed I'm making Donnie bring you back so I can kill you myself."

I coughed as he had begun squeezing the air from me, "Ok, fine, no dying. Got it. Trust me, that's at the top of my to-do list."

Donnie and Leo took their positions at the front of the van while the other two took to their normal seats. The truck roared to life and we began exiting the park to get on the highway that led to the storage facility.

I knelt down between Donnie and Leo's seats as we began our short trip and rested an arm on either seat's back. My injured arm was totally healed now, but still stung a bit. I guess fast healing didn't account for comfort level.

Before I could speak to either one of them I heard and felt my stomach rumble rather loudly. I was starving and felt like I could eat an entire pizzeria's worth of food, but I knew there were more important things to do first.

"Leo, grab Elena one of those bars from the glove compartment there," Donnie motioned over to his brother, who did as he asked. Leo handed me a small bundle that was wrapped in cellophane and looked like a weird version of a granola bar.

"Mikey complains that they taste gross, but when you do missions with someone who is hungry _all_ the time you learn how to improvise," he explained as I unwrapped the bundle and took a hesitant taste. It actually wasn't that bad, mainly just tasted like honey and oats. At that point my body took over and I scarfed the rest of the bar down in a couple bites, instantly feeling the pangs end. Well, if it tasted healthy that's probably why Mikey hated it.

"I concocted that formula to help supplement anything we may be lacking as well as provide the optimum nutrition we need for some of our more intense missions. Actually," he motioned towards the compartment again, "Leo throw a few of those to Mikey and Raph now that I'm thinking about it. You guys just went through a lot and we all need to be at the top of our game."

Leo nodded and did as he requested, and it was hard to hide my grin as I heard Mikey moan from the back of the vehicle. The eldest brother looked at me and knew I wanted to talk, "So, what's up?"

"Leo, Donnie," I held my voice at just above a whisper, not wanting the other two to be alerted. "If I, uh…If I turn again when we go in…" I felt my voice hitch in my throat, but forced it to come out, "I want you to take care of the situation. Make sure no one else gets hurt."

His face dropped slightly at the comment, "Look, when Raph was chasing me I heard the whole thing," I said pointing to the ear piece I had been given earlier. "I couldn't do or say anything about it, but I heard it all."

"Look, I'm sorry about that," he began apologizing, averting his eyes from mine. "I just wanted to protect-"

I held my hand up to interrupt him, "For the record, I _agreed_ with you. Being trapped in my own head and not being able to do anything was the worst feeling. And I could never forgive myself if I seriously hurt one of y'all."

"So promise me, both of you, that if the time comes one of you will _take care_ of the situation…Please?" The look in their eyes let me know they knew what I was hinting at, and I hated to even bring up the subject. But I needed to have a backup plan if things went south.

They both sat in silence for a moment as we crossed over the Harlem river, not much further from our destination. "Well?"

After a second they both nodded, though I knew it weighed them down at the thought of the task. I felt bad for them, but knew it was for the best; I couldn't trust the other two would actually follow through with such a request and those split seconds could mean the difference between life or death. I reached forward and gave each one a hug, kissing their cheek as only a sister could do, before ducking down and taking my seat back by Raphael.

"Have fun up there? Lemme guess, you talked all sorts of nerdy shit with Donnie while you could," he chuckled slightly, adjusting to let me lean against him. "You know, it's your fault I gotta eat this shit. _And_ I have to listen to Mikey bitch, so that makes it even worse."

I laughed genuinely as I saw him finish his last bite with a face, "It really wasn't _that_ bad. Not my fault you two don't like _real_ food."

"Hey," Mikey chimed in from the other side of the truck as he held the bar in his fingers like it was something disgusting, "Pizza _IS_ real food yo. Thought you were on our side…"

A solid arm snaked around my midsection and pulled me closer, his hand finally resting on my stomach. I was never going to get tired of this feeling. I leaned my head over on his shoulder and closed any other gaps as we sat quiet in the moving vehicle. I glanced down and noticed the bandages that covered his forearms. I did that to him. I hurt him. I had to make this right so that would never happen again.

"You sure you're ready for this?" his voice broke through the background noise, just loud enough for me to hear.

I paused. _Was_ I ready? Did we really have any chance of getting access to Brad, and therefore stopping any future problems? I honestly couldn't tell. To be truthful, I was terrified at the thought of even seeing that bastard again; all the abuse he inflicted upon me was still semi fresh, and I couldn't guarantee how I would react.

"Ready or not, something's about to go down," I muttered, frowning slightly.

"He's not gonna hurt you anymore E, I'm gonna make sure of it," the amount of hate bubbled just under the surface of his comment. I placed my hand over his and gave it a small squeeze.

For the moment I felt so safe, like nothing in the world could break through the barrier that was Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael to come anywhere near me. I was a part of their family, and they would risk it all.

"Raphael, I…uh. I love you," I said quietly. I knew he heard me since his head jerked back at the small phrase. I looked up and saw his green eyes staring down at me intently. I hadn't said it to him yet, and wanted to make sure I had the chance to tell him how I truly felt in case everything went sideways.

A genuine smile broke across his face and he leaned down to press his lips against mine. I closed my eyes as our lips met and brought my hand up to cradle his face, relishing the tender act.

A small sound intruded in our moment as we looked over to Mikey and saw him acting like himself. He was laying down on the couch bench using both hands as hand puppets and was making them profess their love for one another before having them make out.

I heard a low growl rumble through Raph's torso, and I placed a hand against his plastron before whispering, "Don't worry, I got this."

Without any alert I reached down and flicked a kunai in his direction, laughing as he screeched when it lodged itself in the cushion material above his head.

I heard a duet of _hey_ come from both Mikey and Donnie as the truck lurched to a stop on a somewhat barren road. I jumped up and retrieved the kunai from the fabric as Raph's and my laughter echoed through the area.

"Sorry there Mikey," I giggled as I replaced the kunai in the sheathe, "I don't have very many of these left." He muttered something about me and his brother being made for one another as he sat up to look around.

"We there yet? I don't know if I can take much more of the lovebirds back here," he pretended to gag.

Donnie nodded as he and Leo came to the back with us and sat at the computer. He swiftly went through some information between the computer and his wrist before sighing and turning towards me. "I'm still not picking up anything that would suggest something nefarious was going on here, so I'm going to err on the side of caution and suggest he's got it well hidden. Which means there is probably a lot of security features that we'll be blind on."

"You ready for this?" I turned and saw all four turtles looking at me. Without hesitation I put my hand out, which caused each one to put theirs on top of mine.

"It's now or never guys."


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

The sun had risen well above the horizon, and its rays had finally crested over some of the taller buildings to the east of our position. Thankfully, though, today was a Sunday, so there weren't any people milling about even at this hour of the morning.

The garbage truck was parked across the street near some brush that offered little cover, but with as fast as we could move no normal person would even realize what they were seeing if they happened upon the five of us. Without hesitation we scaled the wall and took cover behind anything available in order to scout the area and become more aware of our surroundings.

I took a moment to catch my breath and try to get my heart from beating out of my chest. Even though we could see each person's area was clear we all waited for the signal from Leonardo to push forward. He and Donatello went down one row of storage units while myself, Mikey, and Raph silently crept down ours towards the gentle lap of water at the river's edge.

The few moments seemed like hours before we rejoined one another towards the back of the facility. I could feel the back of my neck itching as we moved closer to where I remember my body was headed, but I resisted the urge to scratch. At least it wasn't painful this time around.

Donnie looked down at the information that displayed above his wrist and flicked his fingers to move the data around, "It looks like we're in the clear for now; no one else in the immediate vicinity is showing up on my biometrics scanner."

"Do you know which unit is our target?" Leo questioned, glancing around warily out of habit. I could tell he hated being out in the open like this, and something deep inside me agreed with him. I turned to look at the row of units that bordered the river and frowned. They all looked the same. How in the hell was I going to be able to tell?

I stretched my neck and moved my head around to relieve some of the itching before walking down the row of seemingly plain metal doors. The itching continued to increase, so I did finally reach back to scratch the irritant.

Oh, my god. Having claws sometimes could actually be a _blessing_ , though I had to be careful to use the side of my razor sharp nails in order to not slice my own self open. I could feel the freshly knitted skin over where Donatello had tried to remove that device earlier.

I paused momentarily in front of each metal door, trying to wrap my brain around how in the hell I would be able to tell which one was which. I could feel the frustration rolling off of Raphael, and felt the same aggravation at the unknown.

Just as I felt he was about to speak up in frustration I stopped. This door looked just like all of the other ones, not one thing was different, but it just _was_. I could feel it deep inside my bones.

The four brothers were watching me like a hawk to the point that I didn't even need to say anything before they were next to me, Donnie scanning the door and then frowning when his wrist beeped negative. He pulled out a couple of small metal tools and set to work on the simple padlock that hung from the door's sliding mechanism and within seconds we all heard the lock open.

Each of us tensed as he pulled away the padlock, setting it down on the ground like it might explode in his hands before looking back to Leo. I could see both red and orange wristwraps reaching for their belts in anticipation. The elder turtle's features pulled taught as he withdrew his katana, his grip solid on their hilts, and nodded. Donnie hefted the door up before leaping back to withdraw his own weapon.

If we all weren't so wound up with the events of the last few hours the scene would be humorous. The moment the door opened we all charged forward to fight an unknown enemy…and encounter nothing.

Nothing? Like seriously, nothing is in this unit; there's just four plain metal walls and a cement floor like any other storage unit out there.

I lead the group and stepped cautiously into the room, holding my breath for something, _anything_ , to jump out and attack. Then at least I wouldn't feel so friggin stupid.

By that time Donnie has replaced his bo staff and brought out his wrist scanner again, typing furiously one handed as he looked around.

"Hey, ya sure the Yogi part of you knows your way around the city, doll?" I heard Raph's laugh come through as he used that irritating nickname Mikey like to call me, "Cuz this doesn't seem like any badass fortress or anything." Michelangelo snorted in response, and I saw the two of them bump fists in amusement after sheathing their weapons. The sound of his chuckle lightened my heart a bit, and I calmed down a bit before punching him playfully on the shoulder.

"Stay focused guys," Leo's sharp retort echoed through the unit, causing us all to shut up. He pointed his finger at his two brothers, "you two of all should know that _normal_ things are never normal when it comes to us being involved."

His gaze rested on me and I felt slightly ashamed, though I felt better moments later as I saw the briefest of smiles lift the corner of his mouth. He wasn't mad, just always on guard to keep everyone safe. We could afford to be calmer at the present time, but not foolhardy. I'll probably be on the receiving end of a lecture from him later, though.

"What'cha got for us Don," he said a moment later as he whirled his katanas around and sheathed them.

Donatello was immersed in his scanner's readouts and I could tell he was fascinated with the findings. He reached forward and placed a hand upon one of the corrugated metal walls before giving it a swift tap with his knuckle.

No sound could be heard.

"Fascinating, I've never seen anything like this," his fingers traced along the smooth edge, "It's a form of sound dampening metal, which is actually quite common, but there is a type of alloy I've never seen before. Maybe this is why my scanners haven't been working properly. I don't even know if this stuff is available on earth."

"What are you saying," I frowned and bit my lip, "we're dealing with _aliens_ now? Seriously? Mutants and weird scientists aren't enough?"

"Think it's the Kraang again?" Leo interrupted, going over to look at the wrist device, but knowing he wasn't going to understand any of the findings.

"I'm not sure," Donnie replied as he pushed up his glasses and tapped at the data again, "I've catalogued every piece of information we've received from the Kraang with the last invasion, and I have constantly searching loops that will alert me if anything put on the internet contains them, but it's not popping up on any of those queries."

I stood back and listened as the boys discussed back and forth. I was down in college when the Kraang invaded New York, almost done with my degree, but I had watched in terror alongside millions of others when the pieces of the technodrome came flying through the portal in the sky. Only later did I find out the specifics of what happened after internet servers and phone lines came back up that the brothers were the reason the world was safe.

I remembered the horror I felt, and the longing to come home right away to be with both sides of my family, but each had reassured me that they were fine and there was no need to return while my schooling was still unfinished. That was hard.

I shook my head, shaking the thoughts from my mind, as I noticed Mikey over by the corner of the room looking down at the wall. Quietly I came up beside him and finally noticed the small hand sized rectangle engraved lightly into wall that had caught his attention. It was shallow, maybe even barely hair width deep, and truthfully I was impressed he had even spotted it to begin with.

"Hey, um, guys?" I spoke up, trying to get the other three's attention; they were so engrossed in their information and possible strategies that they hadn't even noticed our absence.

"What do you think it is?" I asked the youngest turtle next to me. He shrugged as he poked it with the end of his nunchuk with no reaction.

"I dunno, but no one is going to lock an empty room," he laughed slightly to himself, "So it's gotta be _something_ , right angelcakes?"

Wow. That was like the smartest thing I think I've ever heard him say. "Well, I guess let's find out then, shall we?" I placed my hand upon the spot, and made sure to not move as a pink line appeared around its border and ran down the length of my hand, scanning it. The line exited the small confines of the hand scanner and went straight down to the ground, before coming up again and creating a border for some sort of door.

Mikey and I stepped back as the wall shifted inwards slightly and then slid into itself, showing an industrial sized elevator car beyond.

"What did you guys do?" Our actions had finally caught the attention of the other three brothers as they appeared behind us.

I laughed slightly to myself before patting Mikey on the shoulder and smiling back at Donnie, "Speak friend and enter, amiright?"

Yep, judging by his smile and everyone else's reactions he was the only one who got that reference. Not a shocker.

"Ready to take a ride, guys?" I said, stepping backwards into the large flat, "Seeing as how this isn't the Empire State building I think the only way to go is down."

I could see some hesitation on a few of their faces, but the moment I had entered the space the door began to close. They quickly piled in and I had to jump over so I wouldn't be squished against the back wall by their huge shells.

We stayed relatively quiet as the elevator made its way down who knew how deep; Donatello didn't even know since the metal used in this place continued to screw around with his sensors. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, but I swallowed and forced myself to calm down. His face fell slack and I knew he was memorizing every inch we moved in case his tech stopped working altogether.

It didn't take long for the lift to stop and the doors open with a pleasant sounding ding. We all readied ourselves, but were greeted with a similar hallway that we had seen before.

"Looks like the fam uses the same interior decorator everywhere they go," Mikey laughed to himself as he stepped out first, but stopped and spun around, surprising us. "Hey! Maybe this is like the last level before the boss fight and we will have lasers coming out of the wall. That'd be awesome!"

"Mikey!" we all exhaled loudly, lowering our weapons at his antics.

He giggled in response even when I punched him playfully on the shoulder as we walked past him; I was grateful for the distraction though I didn't want to admit it. The moment the doors opened I felt the bile rise up in my throat at the similar layout to the hospital where I was held. I stayed in the middle of the turtles, and felt slightly better at the feeling of Raph being so close behind me. It was like having a large, portable, security blanket.

Tension had left the brothers as they replaced their weapons, but stayed on high alert as we inched our way down the current path. We passed some intersecting hallways with no problem, and I averted my eyes to the floor when we came across a few of the rooms like the one I had first woken up in.

"You gonna be ok?" I heard the deep voice sound concerned from behind me. Unknowingly I had stopped walking when we came across the experiment rooms and had glazed over. I shook my head slightly, trying to rid it of my memories before nodding back to him.

"Yeah, I'll be fine the sooner we get out of this hell hole."

Donatello noticed one of the rooms had a small computer system and motioned to us that he was going to access it to hopefully get a better layout of the area. Leo and Mikey joined him in the room, but I refused to step foot inside. I could tell Raph wanted us to stay as close together as possible, but there was no way I was going to go into another one of those rooms willingly.

I leaned against the doorway, facing the hallway and closed my eyes so I didn't have to look through the glass into the room on the opposite side of the hallway. My heart felt like it would beat itself straight out of my chest, so I took a few calming breaths to slow it down. It worked, but not nearly as much as I would have liked.

Minutes dragged by as Donnie hacked into the system. I could vaguely hear his words, since the rooms were decently soundproof when the doors were closed, but from the sound of things he had a decent idea of where we would need to go if we were to discover just who was behind all of this and destroy their research and records. He droned on with his technobabble, and I could feel the irritation rise in the body next to mine, so I took a step over to him and snaked my arm around his waist.

"Least I'm not the only one bored when he gets like this," I leaned up and whispered slightly to him. A smirk erupted on his face as he leaned over a few inches and placed a kiss on my forehead.

"You've known us long enough that the only one getting his rocks off right now is him."

My body tensed up as all of a sudden everything in me went on high alert. I tried to tune out the constant tapping and murmurs and focused on the new sensations that hit my eardrums. I put my hand against the wall and felt it vibrating slightly, with periodic booms. It got the attention of Raph as well, who stood up straighter and looked around the hallway we were in.

"What's going on?" he turned back and forth, surveying the empty hallway we were in. We were perched directly in the middle of the hallway, the nearest intersections being dozens of feet away.

"I feel something, something big…" I whispered out as I concentrated on the vibrations in the wall. I saw Raph go to alert his brothers, but I couldn't draw myself away from the feeling that the vibrations were getting bigger. Oh, shit.

"Everybody, get down!" I leapt to push him out of the way just as something HUGE came crashing through the walls of the hallway and impacted right where he had been standing seconds ago. The nearby walls came crashing down as dust and debris filled the air, choking me. I crawled over to Raph as he began to stir and gave him a quick once over. He seemed to be ok.

"What was hell was that?" he coughed out as we slowly got to our feet, I braced myself against the wall as I stood.

Before we could even call out to the others the sound of a low bellow echoed near us. We jumped back a few feet as a large shadow rose and filled the hallway, blocking out the light from above us. I heard Raph draw his weapons from his belt, the small gust of wind pushed against my fur as they spun in his hands.

The dust began to settle, and the sound of deep grunts grew into a sinister laughter. A humongous bear loomed in the hallway, the rubble of the now blocked hallway impeding any view from the others. The caramel brown fur rippled over the gargantuan body, and it was easy to see that this creature was amused by the sight of the two of us before him.

"My, my, my…look at what we have here. A whore and her _pet_ ," the words snaked out of his mouth, venom dripping from every syllable. The voice was deep, deeper than anything I had ever heard, but I knew exactly who this thing was.

" _Brad_ ," I sneered. What the hell could we expect now?


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

" _Brad_ ," I sneered out, feeling my claws retract and my senses go on high alert. I held out a hand, preventing the furious turtle behind me from leaping into action. "Couldn't stand your own pity party anymore, so you just _had_ to go out there and try to copy what you did to me? Not an improvement, I must say…"

He stood up straight to stretch his muscles out, but then had to stop as he realized he was taller than the actual ceiling. "You know, for a failed experiment you sure are so confident in yourself. How cute."

I growled loudly; Raphael moved closer with a few quiet reassurances, preventing me from attacking the asshole in front of me.

"And _you,_ " he laughed as he saw the small motion, "her turtle in shining armor come to rescue the dear damsel and save the day. I could squish you under my big toe without a care in the world." He glanced at the rubble behind him and faked surprise, "Oh dear! I guess your brothers already learned that lesson."

"Raph, no!" I yelled out as he rushed past me, cursing loudly with his sais and ready to draw blood. Brad sneered as he swung hard at the turtle, his large paw crashing down on his shell causing him to connect hard with the floor. Without hesitation he kicked at the prone turtle, sending him flying back past me, though he stabbed his weapons into the ground, slowing him down and allowing him to jump back up to his feet.

"Looks like you are _such_ a bad ass now," I mocked Brad, a frown formed on his face as I did so, "So what do you want with me? Why try to brainwash me and bring me here?"

He snorted loudly, the look of hate on his face, "Uncle decided you were still a worthy product of the experiments, so he wanted to keep you around…though I don't know why as I'm a much superior specimen compared to you."

I held my hand behind me, attempting to signal to Raph as discreetly as I could while I kept the bear's attention, "Awwww, that's why widdle Bradford poo is upset. Uncle said he wasn't good enough and needed me to come back to show you how to do things? How cute." The amount of hate and sarcasm dripped from every word like his earlier mocking.

The hair bristled on his shoulders and down his back at my words. Good, his attitude was predictable, so that gave me a slight upper hand.

"You _bitch_ ," he spat out, cracking his knuckles as he grabbed a huge piece of the crumbled stone wall from the pile behind him.

I laughed at his comment, "actually, no dog in me, but maybe your uncle had pity and added some in you so your balls can finally get some action since you like to hump his leg." He roared at this and lobbed the piece of wall towards us.

"Go, go, go!" I yelled back at Raphael as I narrowly dodged the massive masonry and we took off down the hallway together. The sound of his bellow echoed throughout the hall and I saw him drop to all fours to chase after us.

"Great plan, genius," Raph muttered as we took a sharp turn at the first intersection, "Piss off the giant bear with jokes and have him chase us. Any other bright ideas?"

"I don't know! I didn't see you doing any better except getting knocked around!" I shouted back at him as I flipped a nearby gurney over to give some obstruction for Brad to get over.

"Hey! Not my fault your ex is Winnie-the-fucking-Pooh on steroids with major anger issues!" he yelled back.

"Really?! Can we _not_ do this right now?" I screeched as we skidded around another corner. I was totally lost and had no idea which was way which. A small crackle of sound pierced my eardrum as I realized the earbud Donnie made me was still inserted. The sound echoed around me as I heard Donnie's static-filled voice come from Raph's radio on his shoulder.

"Elena? Raph? You guys there?"

"Donnie!" I responded as I flung open doors to rooms as we ran; anything to impede our follower, "You guys ok? Where are you?"

"We're ok, Leo got bruised pretty good by all the debris, but we're still alive. His and Mikey's radios were damaged, so I'm the only one that can talk currently. I can't track you guys with all this foreign material screwing with my sensors. Is there any markers or anything you can see that can clue us in?"

"Yeah, one sec, _fuck,_ we're a little busy at the moment!" I yelled back at him as I ducked just in time to not get hit in the head with a chair. I swiftly jumped over it after it landed and kicked it back towards the gaining mutant. In the split second he faltered, I loosed a kunai towards him, hitting him in the shoulder. He cackled as he ripped it from the wound and flung it back towards us.

"G17, Donnie!" Raph yelled over the radio, "We're comin up on G18."

"Raph, watch out!" I yelled as I pushed him to the right at the intersection we had been approaching. The kunai that Brad threw back at us embedded into the wall where his head had been a split-second prior.

I couldn't stop my momentum in order to follow Raph, so I kept running, shouting insults at Brad to keep his attention on me. I heard Raph yell at me through my earpiece.

"Elena, what the hell you think you're doing?!"

"Sorry I like your face as is!" I shouted in return, daring to glance back and see Brad still following me instead of going after Raph. Good, at least something was finally going the way I wanted it to. Raph started around the corner again and was now following the both of us, though he was not nearly as fast. This hallway seemed to go on forever; how friggin big was this place? Was there a whole huge compound under the river that no one ever knew about?

"Donnie, coming up on G20 now, where the hell do I go?!" I panted, holding a pain in my side. When I pulled my hand back I realized it was covered in blood. That must've happened when asshole came crashing through the wall; I just now only started noticing it as my adrenaline began to wane.

"Take a left at G24, then go down a few dozen yards or so to a bigger room. We're not too far from there and can help out." I could hear his breath being labored as well behind all the sudden static in the reception, and wondered just how injured the other three were. The amount of debris left behind by Brad's explosive entrance would have most certainly caved in the entire room they were in.

"Got it, see y'all there." Determination rose in my voice. I just wanted to be done with this asshole once and for all.

"Elena!" I heard Raph yell from behind. I hadn't been paying quite as much attention as I should have been and jumped just far enough ahead to avoid a large set of claws from grabbing my shoulder. Brad growled in anger at his failed attack and doubled down, pushing himself more to catch up.

There was no way I'd be able to make it down to another couple intersections where Donnie told me to turn; he was just too close. I grimaced in hesitation, but decided to try my luck. I timed it just right and employed my momentum to spring up to the side of the wall, using the force behind it to propel me into the right intersection ahead. I tucked my body into a ball and rolled into it, then without missing a beat continued running to whatever lay before me.

Glancing behind me I did manage to throw Brad off a tiny bit, though he quickly sank his claws into the corner of the wall to stop his current trajectory and readjusted to be a few yards behind me. Dammit, thought that would have slowed him down more than that.

I vaguely heard Raph shouting to me, then Donnie over the com systems, though I stayed focused on just not being mincemeat. It took a few extra moments, but I finally saw him turn the corner after us. We couldn't just keep running this whole time; we'd have to ante up and take his ass down. It was then that I noticed a few signs up ahead on the wall indicating there was a gymnasium up ahead.

A gym had _plenty_ of space to run around and avoid dickwad's attacks. That might work.

I dug down deep, wincing at the pain in my side, but pushed harder and gained a little on him. Just another left, then we'd be there.

A large paw swung narrowly under my jumping legs as I swung myself around the last corner, hoping some reprieve was just around the bend. Thank goodness, there were the doors. Just a little more.

Without hesitation I crashed my body into the inward opening double doors, not noticing the marks that had been etched into the door's windows. The doors flew open as I fell into the large sports hall, my body skidding across the smooth floor until I was able to dig my claws into the ground to slow my travel. I kicked myself up from the wooden floor and tried to calm my breathing in anticipation of his attack.

The echoing sound of Brad's laughter could be heard even before he burst through the double doors, stopping just inside. Without missing a beat he lunged over to the side of the doors and hit a sort of electronic panel activating some sort of mechanism.

The floor in front of the doors retracted to allow a large metal barrier to rise up, blocking any possible attempt to open them. On the front of the metal were inch or two long spikes, the evidence of prior training sessions apparent with their dark brown tinge.

"You are such an idiot!" his cackling continued as he hunched over, catching his own breath. "I can't believe you just walked into one of the _worst_ places you could have gone."

"Elena!" I heard through my earpiece. It was Raphael from the other side of the doors, the look of alarm drawn over his entire face as he beat against the door, trying desperately to break through.

"Looks like lover boy can't rescue you this time," Brad's voice deepened as a slight growl rumbled through his chest, "He can watch me teach you a lesson though." His eyes took on a more lustful gaze as he licked his lips, "Maybe even see how good of a couple we were? I could show him how I used to make you squirm."

"Whatever," I snorted in disgust at his comments, "It must've been in your dreams, so don't confuse anything your hand does with me."

A frown adorned his face as his lips curled up in a sneer, showing his razor sharp teeth, "You…little… _bitch_."

I tried to keep my calm and laughed on purpose, though inside I was screaming in terror as he lunged towards me, swiping his massive paw at my head. My body's instincts took over, allowing me to duck in the nick of time and kick off his body to propel myself to the door. I could see slight scratches where Raph had tried to stab the window out, but stopped the moment he saw me there. I could barely hear his real voice; this door must be super thick and sealed up tight. Thank goodness for this ear piece.

"Elena, don't worry, I'll figure out a way to get in there," he grunted as he bull-rushed the door again. "I just gotta break through once I find its weak points." He tried punching the window with all the force he could muster, but it didn't leave a mark on its smooth surface. I tried once on my end, but got the same result.

"Raph, there's no use, it's not gonna work. You're just gonna hurt yourself," I said out loud, keeping an eye on Brad from across the room. He had stopped, but dropped to all fours and stretched his arms and legs. A threatening smirk crossed his face as he watched me jump down and try to mess with the number pad.

"There's a barrier here blocking the doors from being opened, and a number pad on the wall. I think this is bullet proof glass," I hopped back on top of the barrier and put my hand up to the glass, frowning. "We're gonna need Donnie for this one."

"I ain't leavin you here by yourself," he said quietly, his own hand reaching up to shadow my own.

"You have to." I stated harshly, bringing his eyes up to mine. "Find the others and figure out what the bigger picture is here." I waved my hand back towards the gym, "We're just…we're just collateral damage it looks like, so I think there's more to this than we know. I'll hold off Winnie-the-Pooh, but I swear to God if I find out you went drinking and got a massage instead I'm gonna be pissed off."

A slight smile flicked over his features, but then his frown returned as I began to take my earpiece out. "Wait, Elena…babe, what are you doing?"

I flicked my eyes back to see Brad still standing where he was, looking rather bored but finding the humor in the situation. I paused, holding the piece right over my ear as I heard his question, "I can't have y'all in my head distracting me, and I know you can't hear us fighting without it distracting you. So _go._ "

Before he could say something else I pinched the earpiece in between my fingers, crushing it and tossing it to the side.

"I love you," I whispered to the window. I knew he wouldn't have heard me anyway, but he saw what I had said. He nodded and mouthed the words back, taking one last look at me before running off the way we had come.

Good. I don't know how this was going to end, or how _I_ would end up, but I didn't want to get him killed in the process. I sighed softly before turning back to finally confront dickwad.

Pain seared through my jaw as his fist made contact with my face, his cackle rang through my head, "What were you saying about being _distracted_?"

I flipped back out of his reach and used my hand to wipe away the blood from my mouth. He had some on his paw and lifted it to his mouth to taste.

Concentrate, Elena. It was time to end this.


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

"Donnie, Donnie, d'ya hear me?" I grunted as I pushed against the blocked doors and forced myself to break away. I wanted to stay and force my way into that training room so I could pulverize that asshole to a pulp, but Elena was right. I was going to need my brothers for this, and I needed to regroup with them. We were strong on our own, but together we were an almost unstoppable force.

I turned a few corners, trying to recall the directions D gave me as I made my way back to where her path veered earlier. Static filled the air from my radio as my call went unanswered.

"C'mon guys, don't leave me hangin…" I said over the radio again. Ok, so where did Donnie tell us to go? Ah, there it is. G24. I turned left like he had instructed, and continued down a bit, getting angrier at the lack of response from the others. Where the hell were they?

Those few dozen yards seemed to take forever as I pushed myself as hard as I could before finally coming up to another set of doors, the label next to them indicating it was another lab of sorts. I slowed my breathing down as I pulled the sais from my belt, not wanting to take any chances. Carefully I peeked through the door and looked inside.

It looked just like the one we went to within the past few hours; shit that seemed so friggin long ago now. This time though, there were no guards or lab techs at each station busy at work. The lights were off, but a security light in the back filled most of the room with a bloody red glow.

I slipped inside, making sure the door didn't make any noise behind me as it latched back in place. I could hear something moving in the closet towards the back, and instinctively clutched my weapons tighter in my hands. A light flickered and moved underneath the door jam in the back, something or someone was in there.

Was it more lab techs? Did they hear the explosion and go hunker down in there? I dunno, but dammit, I needed to find the guys and get back to E. This was taking too long.

Creeping towards the back closet I realized the light turned off and everything got silent behind the door. Shit, whoever was in there knew someone was in _here;_ I didn't think I made any noise though. There goes the element of surprise.

Fine. I was finally back by the door knob. Whoever was in there knew I was out here, so no need for quiet takedowns anymore.

I flung open the door and began to yell as I charged the room, but suddenly felt my feet being wrapped by something and whisked out from underneath me. My shell thudded hard against the ground and I rolled over, trying to free myself from whatever had bounded them before I finally realize I heard laughing.

"Hey look! It's just Raph," Mikey's voice sounded through the area, before dropping off after being shushed by D. He flicked his wrist and unwound the chain from around my ankles before reaching down a hand to help me up.

"Sorry bout that dude, didn't know who you were, and there's freaky stuff all around here," he apologized as I brushed myself off, replacing my weapons. Donnie's light flashed back on and I finally got a look at the other three.

They had definitely seen better days. Mikey seemed relatively fine, though he had some minor bruises and scrapes here and there. Donnie had a large gash on his arm, the blood still oozing down, creating a small red river through the dust that clung to his skin.

Leo, though…he had taken a beating. "Fearless, what the hell happened?" I went over to help D, holding a gauze patch to the back of his neck. He had multiple bandages on each bruised limb and even duct tape on part of his shell. Man, he did get his ass handed to him. Had this been any other type of situation I may have poked fun at him, but now was not the time.

Even through the pain he was one tough turtle, a small grin showing through the grimace. "Well, remember how we always thought Mikey was the fastest of us all? Looks like I one-upped him finally."

I cocked my head to the side, confused. "He pushed Mikey out of the way when that explosion happened," Donatello chimed in, grateful for the help and finally taking a long piece of bandage and securing the gauze to Leo's neck. "Mikey and I had to dig him out." He reached into his pack and retrieved a few pills and bottle of water, but Leo waved the painkillers away.

"Dude, don't start giving me that whole pain-is-only-in-the-mind bullshit. Just take 'em so we can go help E." For once he didn't roll his eyes at me, which made me realize just how much he was hurting, but took the pills and knocked them back with a swig of the liquid.

"Where is she?" Mikey asked, looking behind me and frowning when he didn't see her.

"You didn't friggin hear all of it?" I pointed at D's radio as he worked on patching himself up. Nerd boy shook his head and flicked his fingers at the useless device on his shoulder.

"It worked briefly when I contacted you two, but stopped after that."

Of course. What else could go wrong today? I explained to them the situation, how it wasn't an explosion, but a huge mutated Brad that had burst through the walls and attacked us. Each of their faces held a different expression, but I kept going, until finally Mikey had had enough.

"So you mean you just _left_ her there bro? What the hell?" his face flushed with anger at me, and I growled low as I stood up and over him.

"It's not like I had a fuckin _choice_ Mikey," my voice low and menacing. "What the hell was I supposed to do? Just keep throwing myself at the door?"

"Hey, _hey_ ," Leo's voice came out firmly as he struggled to stand up. "Let's not argue about it. All we can do is do what she asked, and be swift about it."

"You're in no shape to be doing _any_ thing, Leo, but where the hell are we even going to start?" I gritted my teeth, "This place is a friggin maze."

Before he could even argue with me, Donnie interrupted and pulled up a map on his wrist, "Here, I was able to pull a map from the computer before everything literally came crashing down." The image flickered, causing him to thump the side of the device a couple times, "So it looks like there is a central control room that would probably house all of the computers and surveillance equipment in this room on the east side of the facility. With any luck we'd not only be able to override any type of security measure that's barring the door to the room she's in, but we could also have access to whatever data this place has…including any research information and possible antidotes."

"Ok, so me and Mikey go back to where she's at to help while you and Leo work on whatever you need to do to open the damn thing," I stated matter-of-factly as I stood up and stretched my arms out. The others nodded and stood up, Leo taking way more time than he normally would need. He saw the rest of us watching him warily and tried to wave off our looks, but we knew he was hurting.

My heart felt like it was being torn in two. I couldn't leave my brothers to fend for themselves in the state they were in, but on the other hand Elena would definitely not be able to fend off Brad on her own for very long. I wanted to just claw my eyes out and scream.

But I didn't. They needed me, and so did she. So dammit, we were gonna do both. Without hesitation I went over to Leo and pulled his arm across my shoulders, helping to keep him stable as he stood. I knew he felt guilty, but he shouldn't. He saved our youngest brother, and for that I was grateful as well.

"Change in plan," I grunted as I helped him hobble to the doorway, "We do both, but we haul ass." I smirked as I shot a look at my older brother, "You better be a fast hobbler otherwise I start carrying you princess style while Mikey takes a picture, got it?"

A small chuckle escaped his mouth at my comment, and I felt his hand tighten around my own, "Got it brother. Let's go."

The four of us crept as fast as we could down the maze of hallways towards where Donnie said we needed to go. Considering what all had been going on recently, it was eerily quiet, and had I had hair, it would probably be standing on end with hesitation. Once the pain meds started kicking in Leo was slightly more flexible, though I knew with how roughed up he was he would be feeling this for quite awhile.

We finally came to a door labeled 'Control Room' and saw it had a keypad of sorts on the outside. Donnie plugged in his watch and began cracking the code for the system while the rest of us kept a look out for any potential threats. Seconds passed by until a green light flashed and he smiled slightly, glad that he was able to crack the device and gain access.

We silently entered the room, making sure that the door made no noise as it closed. Donnie was right, this place was pretty big in that it had a ton of computers lined up against the walls and various computer stations that had different parts of the facility pulled up on their screens.

Only problem was that it seemed they were in a sectioned off part of the room. The larger area, the one with all the equipment, was separated from us by another locked room. The walls were glass, so we could see straight through to the larger area, and the next room over had a lot of cabinets and lockers that lined one wall. "What's going on here D?"

He moved forward to examine the keypad that blocked us from gaining entrance to the next room and frowned as he plugged in his machine, "This looks to be a secondary security measure to protect everything over there. The next room is a small armory where they equip all of the guards."

"What guards? We haven't seen any guards this whole…" I heard Mikey start to say until we heard a laughter come from the larger room and a single figure emerge from behind one of the consoles, "…time."

A slim man, maybe in his mid-fifties came forward and I instantly knew this must be Brad's uncle E had talked about. Hell, he even looked like _he_ could be asshole's father since they looked just alike. He slowly clapped his hands as he eyed us with disgust.

"Well, well, _well_ , if it isn't the infamous turtles I've heard so much about over the years," his voice grated on my nerves, all nasally and arrogant like he thought he knew everything. "Why would I send out my guards piecemeal to be picked off when I could just lure you here and use all of them?"

At that moment we all heard the thunder of footsteps just as they burst through the door behind us. Donnie whispered something to Leo and he motioned for us to not react as they surrounded us, each of their rifles pointed directly at our heads. They were armed to the teeth, even for just guards, and had all their guns pointed at us.

"Oh, I've seen the internal reports, and know parts of you are bullet proof, but there are plenty of places that aren't." I felt a barrel from behind push sharply into the back of my head, and gritted my teeth in irritation. Leo glanced at me and barely shook his head. He wanted me to stand down.

What the hell? There was only like six or seven guys in here, and even though there was a good dozen and a half guys in the room with Barney it'd take them a couple of minutes to get where we were at. Even with Leo being hurt we still had the numbers on our side. What gives?

The man seemed excited at capturing us, and motioned for the guards to bring us into the area he stood in. The prick behind me jabbed the gun against my skull, "Walk."

"Man, you'd think they'd at least say _please,_ " Mikey whispered as one of them punched in a number and we all filed into the small armory room as the same guy began keying in the numbers on the next pad.

Trigger happy behind me jerked the barrel into my head once more, "Don't you even _think_ about grabbing one of those rifles. I bet your freak hands wouldn't be able to shoot them anyway." Man, today must be this asshole's first day, he was ready to get down to business.

"No, but I could use that rifle against your thick head, or shove it so far up your-"

"Raph," Leo cut in, silencing me. I grinned as I could see the anger flare in the guard behind me from the reflection in the window and chuckled low to myself.

The group of us filed into the larger room and came down to the middle where Barney stood, the guards behind me all raising their guns towards us. Trigger happy behind me kicked the back of my knee, forcing me to kneel on the ground and to put my hands behind my shell. I ground my teeth in anger, but glanced across all my brothers and saw they were also on their knees and doing as instructed.

"Just look at you," he exhaled happily as he walked up to Leo and lifted his face to look at him closely. "Such a scientific marvel you four are, and a good thing that Sacks and my brother didn't get to harness the power of the mutagen flowing through your veins. They would have used it for far less worthy applications." He saw the multiple bandages on my brother and walked over to a nearby desk to grab something from a drawer. Coming back he lifted up one of the wraps and smeared a little blood on the glass tray, then walked over to a microscope to get a closer look.

All this silence was starting to irritate me. I don't know how long I had been away from Elena, but this jerk off was making us take longer. We needed to get free so we could help her. Trigger behind me could see my irritation and laughed, "What, you got a hot date you're late for or something?"

"Trust me, I got better chances than a twerp like you at getting anything," I sneered, getting tired of his bullshit. I didn't even have to see his face to know he was furious, the slightest of vibrations of his anger could be felt through the barrel against my head, but he didn't make any motions to do anything.

"Just incredible, this is the precise link I may need to finally perfect my serum," he said to himself as he stood up and looked at us once again.

"Let me guess," Leo brought Barney out of his thoughts, "You're going to make a biological weapon and attack the city, blah blah typical evil mastermind plan blah."

"A weapon? Oh heavens no, I'm not simple minded like Sacks and Shredder," he said calmly as he walked over to a computer and sent the information from its screen up to the massive screen on the wall. The different windows each held what looked like strands of different DNA which meant jack shit to me and the other two numbskulls, but I assumed it was important when I heard nerd boy gasp. "Why stop at one weapon when you can have an _army_ of weapons?"

"Parelaphostrongylus tenuis? Why would you want to-" he began before trailing off. I could tell probably a thousand thoughts were going through his head simultaneously, but within a split second it all stopped on a dime. Donnie turned his head to the side to glance at Leo, but said it loud enough that we could all hear. "Parelaph—sorry, he's going to use a meningeal worm…erm, a nematode parasite…ugh, a _brainworm_ to control the host. He's going to create an army of mutants that he can control."

"Ding ding ding!" The cackle came from before us as Barney walked closer to Donnie, "so you _are_ the smart one of the group. Maybe I should keep you off to the side so I can dissect that brain of yours and figure out just how you were able to be so intelligent."

His gaze came upon me as I couldn't contain the seething anger I was feeling from being silent. "And you. Look at the muscle structure on _you_. No wonder my nephew felt inadequate." He paused momentarily as he looked at me like a cat watches a mouse before turning back to the screens.

"But you're right, I am going to use the missing link from your mutagen to finish my project. Sacks', Oroku Saki, and even my dear twin weren't able to wrap their minds around the bigger picture, but I…I've been dreaming about it for years now. Too many years…"

He paused momentarily, looking at the screens and lost in his daydream, but turned around and narrowed his eyes at us.

"Through my role as a researcher for the foot I had retrieved a small sample of the mutagen Kraang gave Shredder before he turned it over to my fool of a brother and made those monstrosities. But even through his failures I was able to glean important details." The screens changed to show different animals and their DNA strands, "his experiments uncovered each person in the world had a dormant animal ancestor, which could be unlocked using the mutagen provided by our alien friend. _But_ , and here's the important part, no one ever thought to think about combining multiple creatures in order to create a perfect being. That's where I came in."

"History shows stories of chimeras, creatures that are distinctively multiple creatures, so I wondered if this were just mere coincidence?" Barney nodded his head toward Donnie, "people of our intelligence understand that there are no coincidences regarding science. But then I had to wonder, what if the dormant animal DNA wasn't of a valuable creature? Surely we couldn't make an army out of fluffy bunnies."

"Fortunately my own DNA held a righteous creature, a bear. Strong and stout, though not as fast as desired from a combat perspective. They can stand up to much abuse, but what if they couldn't get hit in the first place? That'd make them near invincible. I searched for anyone who may contain a feline-type ancestor and surprisingly had a difficult time mixing the two. Then my nephew brought in a test subject with something slightly more compatible."

He flicked the screens to where the entire wall filled up with the images of the room E was in with Brad, "This specimen…well, this specimen was quite special indeed."

I could barely contain my anger as I watched the images on the screen. She looked like she had taken a few good hits, but so did asshole. Blood streaked across the floor in areas from obvious hits, though whose blood was whose was debatable. He had his arm around her neck trying to choke her, but couldn't quite do so as she had an arm in between his and her neck, trying desperately to push him away. The look of satisfaction was worn blatantly across his face as his other arm began reaching up to grab the side of her head as if wanted to snap her neck. She quickly used her fangs and sank them into the arm that held her.

That's my girl. There was no sound on the video, but I could tell he bellowed loudly in her ear as they laid flat down on her head. Her bite must've hurt like a bitch though, because he wrenched his arm away from her, throwing her towards the wall. She quickly righted herself and used the momentum of his launch as well as her own claws to run up the wall slightly before springboarding back and kicking him hard in the chest. The extra force of her attack threw him back towards the other side of the training room and he crashed hard against the wall.

"Wolverines aren't known for their speed, but given the appropriate environment they can be quite a force to be dealt with," Barney kept his view locked on the screens, almost as if he admired his work. "It was difficult readjusting her DNA to allow my own strands of bear to be on equal ground as her wolverine…there is a natural dominant and recessive order to things. But she was my first success with more than one strand of animal DNA, and such a lovely specimen."

"But…" he trailed off as he looked back towards us, "there was no way to control her. Sure I put her in rooms with multiple threats and forced her to fight for her own survival, but in any other situation I'd have no way to harness her skills. I searched and searched and finally came across some old notes from your project, the one that created how you are today. In it, I discovered there was indeed a difference between the alien mutagen and the one contained in your bodies. I'd be able to filter in untold strands of DNA from whatever creature I wanted, and found the _brainworm_ as you put it was a perfect gateway to doing so."

I felt the sharp jab of the barrel against my head and realized my hands had began moving away from my shell. I was listening to what this Dr. Insano was saying in front of me, but I was having a hard time tearing my eyes away from the screen. She was fighting for her absolute life, and we were just kneeling here on the fucking ground. He was droning on and on with more science bullshit and in any other circumstance I woulda fallen asleep by now. I picked up on a few of his words though which finally got my attention.

"It's a shame to come so far in my research to just dispose of her so soon."

"What?!" the word came erupting from my mouth as I lunged towards his brainy self. I was going to rip him limb from limb, and I didn't care if I got a bullet in the brain for doing so. Six or seven guys came from out of nowhere and jumped on the back of my shell, pushing me down to the ground, their guns now all trained on me.

"Raph! Stop it!" I heard Leo's sharp shout from behind me.

"Leo! He's gonna fuckin ice her if we don't _do_ something," I shouted back, wriggling underneath the extra weight on top of me. If I could get one of them off of me I'd have just enough leverage to get out from underneath all of them. Trigger happy had his entire body weight on my back, his knee right where my neck connected to my shell and yelled out to Barney, "Want me to take him out? That'll be an attitude adjustment."

The scientist narrowed his eyes at the guard and shook his head, "No, their blood is too valuable to be spilt so easily. That, and I have a feeling he wouldn't want to miss the next portion of our entertainment."

I stopped fighting as I struggled to lift my head to see what he was talking about, though the guards stayed on my shell. I guess they weren't satisfied with their boss's answer and were just itching to kill something.

"You…you must've been the one my nephew was so angry about, turning the young woman away from him," he paced back and forth about the room, taking his time with his words. "It's a shame something so trivial overtook him; he really had a blooming career at the hospital and was helping me out by finding test subjects no one would even know were missing. It was quite easy and convenient where he worked in the emergency room. But that young lady… _she_ poisoned his mind and was the reason he could no longer focus on the task at hand. After their relationship terminated he became obsessed with this sort of duty to get her back. Oh, I know it was all for selfish reasons, but he felt slighted when she turned him down…a slap in the face to his ego which couldn't happen. Certainly took after his father in that aspect."

He stopped as he glanced up at the fighting pair on the screen, "But, in the end it worked out beautifully because she was such a wonderful specimen. Which is why this makes it so hard to dispose of both of them."

"Dispose of them? But isn't he your own flesh and blood?" I could tell Leo didn't like the idea of this asshole just spacing not only E, but his own relative. Didn't seem natural.

"For certain he is related to me; we share the same bear ancestor genes that were passed down through my father's side of the family," Barney had turned to face Leo but began keying in some sort of codes on the computer; there was no emotion as he went through his explanation. "After their relationship ended he became inconsolable; could barely eat or sleep. All of his efforts were focused on forcing her back into his overall plan. I let him take lead on her transformation, but kept my eye on the situation. He began to recover from his self-induced psychological trauma, but regressed quickly upon her removal from our facility."

"He practically begged me while on his knees to transform him. Had I not done it he would have figured out how to do it without me; the boy is crafty," he paused slightly from typing, as if taking a moment to dwell on his nephew. "His case was immensely underwhelming compared to the leaps and bounds we crossed when we transformed our female friend here." He began again, the amount of text that flew across the screen too intricate or fast for my eyes to comprehend.

"In the end, once I am able to synthesize the compound in your blood I need to perform the next stage of my plan I will no longer have a need for either of them. They are controlled by a mechanical device which is subpar compared to my biological intervention. At that point they will both be just possible weak links in my grander plan." He stood up and seemed almost sad as he typed in some code, then hovered over a button momentarily before pressing down. "They are both expendable."

I had been watching the screens the entire time while listening to him, hoping that Elena was able to hold her own against Brad. The more I watched her, the more I realized she wasn't as fine as first I thought she was. She kept holding her chest, and looked like she was having problems breathing.

Everything changed the moment he pressed down the button. They both stopped in their tracks and stood still as statues for what seemed like forever. It couldn't have been more than a few seconds, though, before Brad walked calmly over to Elena and grabbed her by the neck with no resistance. He reached his other hand high in the air before bringing it down directly into her face, sending her straight down into the splintered floor below him.

"What the hell are you doing?" I shouted out as I watched her lay there with no move to get up. He reached down to hold her neck against the floor and began punching her face and chest. She was awake, though, because I saw her eyes were open. I knew she had to be feeling everything without being able to fight back.

"Stop it! It's going to kill her!" I heard the clicks of guns being brought online right by my head, but I didn't care. If he continued doing that to her she wouldn't survive the abuse. And I didn't know what I'd do without her. If I were able to get to Barney and stop him, them shooting me would be the least of my concerns.

My brain tuned out everyone else as I ducked my head in my shell a split second before a bullet hit the floor in front of me. I had about enough with trigger happy and kicked out at anyone who was holding my legs. I must've surprised a couple of them with my head disappearing like that because I was able to throw two of them across the room as a few bullets ricocheted harmlessly off my shell.

I didn't see them, but I could hear my brothers fighting back as well. Good, I wouldn't have to worry about them then. Now I could focus on getting to that bastard and making it stop. I instinctively ducked back as a knife came down by my face and saw trigger happy had realized a gun wouldn't work on most of me. He came at me again all ballsy but yelped as I grabbed his right hand and twisted it, the sounds of his bones breaking made me smile.

"Were you left handed? Otherwise you gonna need to pay for your dates now," I sneered before dragging him towards Barney. The scientist yelped in surprise at the sudden action and quickly keyed in a couple of buttons, activating some sort of alarm system, then tried to scurry off to a door towards the other side of the room. The lights dimmed suddenly as loud blasts erupted from the walls and throughout the shaking compound. From the corner of my eye I could see some security monitors show explosions followed by rushing water.

"Oh no you don't!" I still had trigger happy in my hand and threw him with all my might towards the asshole behind this master plan. The two bodies collided hard, knocking them both out. A few guards tried to attack me from behind, but were easily picked up and tossed in the same direction. See if the size of your brain will get you out from underneath a few bodies, asshole.

Turning back to the screens my blood turned to ice, "Donnie! I need you over here _now_!" Brad had stopped beating on Elena, but now they both were on the floor writhing in what looked like immense pain. I looked down at all the keys and felt helpless; I had no idea what to do.

"Working on it!" I could barely register him yelling back over the sounds of the alarms that blasted through the room. I watched both bears' bodies twist and turn in the most unnatural poses from an unseen force, and here I was unable to help in any way. Endless seconds passed before my breathless brother joined me, instantly looking down at all the code Barney had input.

"What's going on?!" I demanded, unable to tear my eyes from the screen. I was thankful to have the others there; I felt like my body could do nothing but watch helplessly as E went through hell right now. Had I not been leaning on the desk I probably would have been on my knees in shock at the moment.

"The device he implanted is not only has a control mechanism embedded into her spinal column, but from what I could see of the code all the way over where I was it appears to have a self-destruct feature as well. Judging by Brad's vitals on the screen over there it looks like it's a type of constant electricity streaming directly into their spinal columns."

"English please?" I couldn't help but shout back.

The sounds of his furious typing were almost loud enough to overcome the echoes of my heart beating out of my chest. "It means if I don't figure out how to stop the surge, it's going to kill her."


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

I've always heard the term _be careful what you wish for_ , but I never truly grasped the meaning. Yeah, I graduated high school and wanted to branch out to have more excitement in my life, so went off to college and decided to backpack and travel the world in search of the type of thrills I had always heard so much about. And experience it I did. I had more than a lifetime of memories from the world's greatest treasures and peoples, but still had that itch upon returning to New York.

That was before I was kidnapped and mutated into a creature against my will. Before being mentally and physically torn apart and stitched sloppily back together. Before being stupid enough to walk back into danger to try and prevent whatever foul plan my ex and his uncle had concocted and prepared to fulfill. Before being attacked and separated from the only other beings who could possibly understand and help me.

Now, truthfully, all I wanted to do was sit on the couch and binge watch a show on Netflix. Stay inside where it was safe and bundled up to my favorite turtle just letting life pass us by.

Screw excitement, and screw thrill. I didn't want it anymore.

My lip stung as the blood seeped slowly from it after being attacked by Brad right as Raphael had left to go find the others. I wiped what blood I could off onto my paw and saw him licking _my_ blood off his. Ew.

His tongue lapped over the fur on his knuckles, and I could swear I saw his eyes roll slightly in the back of his head like he was relishing a damn ice cream cone. "Dude, I thought you were crazy before, but now I know you're a twisted lunatic."

His eyes refocused on me and I inwardly had to hide my cringe; it was weird because they were the same but also deranged. "What did your uncle _do_ to you?"

As this was a huge gymnasium style training room similar to the one in the lab where I was held, it allowed him to fully stretch and stand to his maximum height. He was huge, easily nine feet tall, and built like a friggin semi truck. Had I not been a mutant my entire face would have easily been shattered by his one punch.

The sound of his cackle reverberated off the walls, enough to where I could feel it in my bones. "My uncle gave me _true_ power, and with it I will destroy you and everything you hold dear."

He moved gracefully, even at his size, and he kept to the outer edges of the room. It only took a few moments before I realized he was circling me like I was some sort of prey.

"I'm going to break you, but not kill you," he said lowly as he continued his pace, "I want to make you watch and suffer as I kill all of your precious turtles, then move on to your family. One by one they will fall to me and then maybe you will realize who is really in charge here. You'll be begging me for mercy the entire time, but the only mercy I will show you is when I finally snap your neck."

Mom, Dad, Nathaniel, Anya…they were innocent in all of this. I felt my insides bristle with anger, but I couldn't let him see he was getting to me. I would become angry, and leave openings for him. That's what he wanted. I kept light on my feet, anticipating any movement from him might be an impending attack. The only good thing about the freak I am now is that I'm a fast freak with combat training.

"You do realize your uncle is just using you, right?" I snarled back towards him, any amount of time I could keep him talking would be an amount of time I wouldn't have to worry about my face getting punched in. "Like, he's using _both_ of us right now. All he wants is tools for whatever plan he's got up his sleeve, and after that he'll throw us out with last night's trash."

"Being used in the interim is a small price to pay for gaining what I want," he sneered back, obviously irritated at the subject. "He thinks he's the one in control, but I can dispose of him whenever I want."

I couldn't help but laugh in his face, "Yeah, right. Just wait until he activates your little control device and see how easy it'll be to resist not being a puppet for him. Been there, done that."

"That's where you're wrong," he replied, "he didn't implant one in me. He said so himself."

"Yeah, because you were oh so trustworthy. For sure your evil scientist uncle wouldn't _dare_ implant a control device in a bear mutant that could rip him limb from limb," I spat out sarcastically. "I'll just let you go ahead and believe that. Even _you_ know that sounds stupid. I bet you can't even feel it in your neck."

There was a moment of hesitance between the two of us, and I realized I may have put some doubt in him. "Here, I'll wait, go ahead and feel around. You know where they go."

He frowned, but watched me carefully as he reached back behind his head to feel around the muscles in his neck. His fingers moved swiftly, and within seconds I could see the scowl deepen on his face.

"Told you," I mocked him, putting my hands on my hips, but keeping them close to where I could reach behind me if needed. A couple kunai were all I had left on me.

He bellowed in anger as he punched the wall he was next to and screamed, "That lying son of a bitch!" It took him just a split second to redirect his anger, and his face turned slowly to face me. "No matter, I'll deal with him once I'm done with you."

I thanked my animal instincts for kicking in, because I felt my body move of its own accord before I realized he was charging me. I grabbed one of my kunai and threw it at his face to distract him as I leapt to the side, avoiding his huge paw. He moved his face just in time to prevent it from implanting itself into his eye, and instead got a decent gash on his cheek. He swung at me again, but I dropped to the ground and swept my legs around, taking his out from underneath him.

Brad landed hard, but rolled over and yelled out in frustration, coming at me hard again. I could do this, it wasn't so hard. I just needed to let my training kick in with everything I had learned over the past few months. I easily avoided his clumsy punches and darted in between to punch and claw at his more vulnerable areas. He had his size and strength, but I was smaller and more agile.

I got this.

Dropping to the ground after another wide punch I scrambled under his legs, taking him off guard as I went through them and jumped up onto his back. I sunk my claws deep into the tissue on his back and sides as I bit down as hard as I could into the fleshy part of his neck. He cried out in pain as I gritted my teeth, tearing what flesh and muscle I could, the warmth of his blood coating my face and neck. Before I could let go I felt his massive hands grab me by my shoulders and fling me away, bits of his shoulder still in my mouth.

I spat them out mid-air as I focused to turn my limbs around to springboard against the wall, sailing back at him. He was prepared this time, though, and I was helpless to stop my trajectory towards him. My arms came up to brace myself as he grabbed me out of the air and whirled me around, smashing me hard into the ground, creating a me-shaped crater in the wood. The audible sounds of my ribs cracking echoed in the empty air.

Ok, so maybe I don't got this.

I couldn't breathe, and each attempt hurt more than the last as I had to roll out of the way to avoid his hands smashing me further into the splintered wooden floor. I had to put some distance between the both of us, at least just enough so I had a moment to figure out a plan. Hobbling over to the wall I skimmed my surroundings, hoping to come up with any type of idea. I had to be smarter than him.

This room was different than those I had been forced to stay in before. During that time there was a small open room where the unsuspecting purple dragons had access to weapons in order to see how I was able to handle different situations and scenarios, but this one lacked any type of escape. The only other possible way out of this hell hole was a small glass viewing room at the very top of the ceiling, which the other one had as well. My spine tingled at the unpleasant memories of Brad standing in that room, watching as I was beaten senselessly shortly after my transformation, but also his smile as he watched me kill dozens of guards as I gained more control over my body. It was either a kill or be killed scenario, and many nights I tried desperately to erase those images from my dreams.

Nonetheless, I wouldn't be able to reach it from a simple jump, as it was a good forty feet just to the bottom of the observation room. This place differed from the hospital in that the supporting steel girders were visible instead of being covered by walls in the other one. Maybe, just maybe, I could use that to my advantage.

My torso trembled in pain as I continued trying to get my breath under control. I definitely cracked a few of my ribs if not totally broke them with that body slam just now, and each minute movement I made caused my whole body to hurt. If I was to survive this I had to get it under control.

What did Leo always say? Pain is only in the mind? Next time I see him I'm going to tell him just how much bullshit that is; it certainly didn't feel like it was just in the mind. It definitely felt like my entire friggin body was feeling it. My breaths lengthened as I slowed their attempt to frantically suck the much needed air into my body.

Fortunately Brad was one of those assholes that reveled in any kind of torture he could inflict upon a victim, relishing in every labored breath I took. At least that bought me a few precious moments to get it under control. I concentrated hard, though keeping my eyes on him the whole time, and after a moment was finally able to tuck the sensations into the back of my brain. If I were to survive this, and I _really_ wanted to survive, then I'd have to compartmentalize my injuries. I could still walk, which meant I could still run, which meant I could climb, meaning I still had a chance.

"Not so tough now, are you?" he cackled as I held my side, gleeful that he had inflicted pain upon me, "I don't see why Uncle would even want you back when he has a superior specimen!"

"Maybe because you're too big to do this?" I coughed out as I launched myself towards the wall, jumping up to grasp the steel girder and springing off of it to reach the next one over, and the next one, using each one to jump around the room and begin an ascent up to the viewing chamber above.

I ignored the string of cursing from below, but kept him in my peripheral at all times as he ran to the wall under the chamber and used his claws to try and climb the wall. He was able to sink his claws into the wall, but everytime he tried to pull himself up the material gave way under his heavy weight. He tried to hold his weight against the girder like I was, but realized he was too heavy to pull himself up. My ribs screamed, but I told them to shut the hell up as I finally bounded up and around the walls to reach the room above. It jutted out over the open space only slightly, so I had barely enough room for a handhold near the windows.

What the hell was I supposed to do now that I was up here? I mentally kicked myself for not planning that far ahead, but at least I had bought myself a few moments as I continued to hear Brad underneath me roaring in frustration. Using one paw I reached back and punched the glass, hoping to shatter it, but frowning when it came away with only a slight crack in it. At least it wasn't the bulletproof glass like the double doors below. I just had to get a few good hits in maybe.

The sound of wood cracking drew my attention. Below me Brad was so frustrated at his inability to climb after me that he had ripped up a huge chunk of the floor where I had been smashed earlier and flung it in my direction. I barely dodged out of the way, but scrambled to keep my handholds on the small ledge of the sill.

"Get down here!" he screamed as he lobbed yet another chest sized chunk of flooring at me. I lost one handhold and swayed around frantically, finally kicking off the underside of the room and retrieving my prior hold. Taking no extra time I punched the same spot a couple more times, desperate to finally break through the pane. Another large crack ran up through the solid material, but still no sign of shattering.

I ducked my head down just in time to avoid another chunk of flooring that was aimed at my head. The weight of the chunk caused the glass to spider web, and I was inwardly thankful at his unintentional help.

A large pain erupted in my back as another hunk of floor connected with my back, and I was unable to keep my grip. I was so busy being happy with the impact on the window I hadn't noticed he had thrown a second piece at the same time. My hands scrambled and clawed at the air, but I was unable to stop my drop to the floor.

Brad was ready for me; the moment he saw me let go he moved to be directly underneath me. I tried flailing my arms and legs, hoping to get one good hit in and push myself away from him, but he learned from the last time how to prevent that. His huge arms snatched me mid air and held me against him, one arm around my neck and the other still trying to pin down my flailing arms. I was barely able to wiggle one arm under his to prevent him from all-out choking me right there, and clawed frantically at his forearms. He grunted from the impact of my legs coming back to kick him in the abdomen, but he held on tight.

Stars began to dot my vision as he was slowly cutting off my air supply, and with one last burst of effort I pushed his arm back a couple inches; just enough space for me to sink my teeth into the strong muscle tissue.

I had to flatten my ears to prevent going deaf from the intensity of his yell, but even then I heard some ringing. He cursed and ripped me away from him, flinging me towards the wall. In the split second he used to assess the damage I had already springboarded against the solid surface and came back at him, landing a good kick against his chest and sending his ass careening towards the wall for once.

He was so large and not as agile as I am, so he crashed against the wall _hard_. Served the bastard right. I knelt down, holding my chest and trying not to pant so fast as the pain decided to make itself known yet again. Brad had collided with one of the steel beams of the room, and he laid flat on the floor for a few minutes before coming to and standing up, bracing himself against the wall.

If looks could kill I would be way more than six feet under right now. His lips had curled up in anger, showing each and every one of the razor-sharp teeth in his mouth. He mouthed some words, but I couldn't hear them.

Wait, I couldn't hear them? My ears twitched around and I realized I couldn't hear _any_ thing, the ringing was mysteriously absent. What was going on? It was then that I noticed, alongside all of my other aches and pains, that the familiar throbbing at the base of my skull had returned.


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter 44

The pain was back, and pounded angrily at the base of my skull. Oh no, not again. Especially not now. I grabbed the back of my head as the pulsing became more insistent, drowning out any pain I had from my ribs. Brad had taken a few steps forward like he was about to run at me, but instantly stopped and dropped his arms, standing there as still as a statue.

No, this can't be happening. They can't be taking over both of us right now, I wouldn't let them do this again. I wasn't going to be someone's bitch.

Red slowly started to melt over my vision as I felt all power being taken away from my limbs. NO. He couldn't do this! I couldn't do anything to fight against this, and I watched Brad's face rise up. His eyes had darkened to all one color now, and he began to slowly walk towards me.

No, please no. Not again. All anger had drained from his face, and he looked calm as he stood before me. I couldn't even lift my head to look up at his face when he stopped. His hand reached up and grabbed me by the throat, his hand big enough to close around my entire neck and his claws piercing my skin as he held tight.

I wondered if he had the consciousness I had at the moment. The last time I had been taken over I could see, hear, smell, and feel everything. I just couldn't act on any of it, sitting by helpless as my body moved of its own accord. Was he internally screaming to be let free like I was?

His grip tightened and my air was cut off, but I couldn't fight back. This was it. It had to be. His uncle was going to have him kill me. At least it may bring him _some_ pleasure to know I was about to suffer in my last few moments because of him.

His other hand balled into a fist and raised in the air way above my vision line, but I knew what was about to happen. I wish I could flinch or do something to brace against it.

The pain was immeasurable as his punch came down right on the top of my head; it was almost like I could feel my entire spine collapse under the force as my body crumpled down into the broken wood below me. It was still splintered from him ripping up chunks earlier, and a few of the larger pieces stabbed into my back and sides.

Brad knelt down over me and began punching me, alternating from one fist to another. Nothing was off limits, my face, my chest, my stomach. Each punch pushed me further into the floor, and shoved those shards of wood further into my body. It wouldn't be soon before one of those would inevitably pierce something internally, and I would probably bleed to death right here.

God, I had never felt this kind of pain before. I don't know if it was just a combination of trying to fight the mind control and having my prior injuries, but this felt almost on par with my actual transformation.

Come on, Elena. You can't go out like this. You can't let these assholes win.

You can't let your family see you like this. Let Raphael see you like this. He would fold in on himself, and waste away to nothing. I can't let him give up because I did.

I concentrated as hard as I was able to, but it was made more difficult by the threat of passing out from all the pain. Come on, girl, forget about that shit and beat these assholes. Show them what you're capable of. Show them that you're a hell of a lot stronger than they gave you credit for.

They don't know who the fuck they're messing with.

Brad stopped punching momentarily though continued to hover over me. My fingers all of a sudden felt like they were on fire, but for the first time in the last few moments I was able to wiggle them. _Yes_. That's what I'm talking about. Come on, girl, fight back. The fire spread up through my arms and slowly began filling my entire body. What seemed like forever may have only been a few moments, but I could finally slide myself out from underneath his still form as the red faded away from my vision.

I hissed in pain as all of my injuries demanded attention at once. A few pieces of the wood broke away, and I felt them scratch against the floor as I scooted out from underneath him. I reached back weakly with my hands, but couldn't get the right amount of force to pull them out. They'd have to stay in there for a bit. Hopefully I could get them out before my body started healing around them, because if not then that'd _really_ suck.

It was weird seeing the large bear in front of me be as still as a statue, his fist still held in mid-air ready to come down on my body again.

The smartass side of me wanted to punch him, kick him, draw a friggin mustache on him… _anything_ to get back at the amount of pain and agony he had caused me these past few months. Not just my heartache, but all the hurt he had caused both of my families from his actions.

Something had caused him to stop attacking me though. Had Raph and the boys beaten Barney? How the hell was I supposed to get out of here now? I had a bad feeling about this…

A loud explosion rocked somewhere in the compound, and I felt the floors and walls shake enough to loosen bits of the ceiling which fell all around. The moment the explosion rang my head exploded with a surge of electricity. I couldn't help it, my body collapsed to the floor and began convulsing against the flood of power that began to ricochet through my entire body.

I barely heard Brad's large body flopping helplessly against the floor next to me, him being another victim to this attack. Barney was trying to kill both of us, that's the only explanation. Earlier was just his sick form of enjoyment, now he really wanted both of us dead. How much more could my body even handle? I couldn't fight against this, I had no control over it at the moment.

No, if I could do it once I could do it again. Maybe what Donnie did to me earlier in the park screwed with the implant just enough that I was able to somewhat fight back. I needed to push myself, otherwise there'd be no way I would survive this.

Screams streamed from my mouth as I fought against the involuntary movements from the electricity. My muscles felt like they were on literal fire as I fought against the electricity to reach back and slice open the back of my neck where it was opened earlier. I had to dig through the muscle and tissue fiber while jerking around involuntarily to reach the implant. It hurt, but it was incomparable to everything else going on.

My whole body was on fire, that's the only description I could make with what I was experiencing at the moment. I was being cooked from the inside out. It was hard to keep my hands from shaking as I sliced my way through to the spinal column, but I finally felt the small nodule that must've been the source of this attack.

Without hesitation I grabbed onto the nodule with my claws and ripped it away from my neck as hard as I was able to muster. My neck and back felt like it was being snapped in two; surely there was some sort of damage I had caused to myself. At the moment, though, I didn't give two shits. I just wanted this to be over with already.

The implant resisted at first, holding tighter to the bone like a tick to its host, when suddenly it was loose and everything instantly stopped. I collapsed to the ground, my muscles twitching from the remaining electricity that trickled through my system, but after a few moments, even those stopped.

I couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't breath. My eyes were open, so I still saw Brad's smoking corpse flopping around on the ground near me. I would say _poor bastard_ , but the petty part of me found it hard to sympathize for an abuser and thought he deserved every single ounce of pain he got. It was just irritating that I wouldn't have been able to inflict the last blow to him and show him I wasn't as weak as he liked to assume.

The smell of burnt fur and flesh invaded my nose and I realized not all of it was coming from him. Man, I needed a friggin vacation after all of this. I wonder if Disneyworld would allow mutants.

The momentary image of Raphael and myself eating cotton candy while riding 'It's a Small World' caused an involuntary laugh, which made my entire body shudder in pain. I coughed, each one sending a bolt of agony through my body, but at least I could still _feel_.

That means I wasn't paralyzed. I willed my arms to work, with no avail. Explosions sounded from other parts of the compound, loud alarms blaring through the space, so the boys obviously pissed someone off. Maybe if I just wait here and rest, they'll come get me and all will be well.

One explosion sounded closer than the others, when I realized parts of the ceiling above me had caved in. Water began pouring in from the cracks and gaps to coat the floor. Of friggin course something like this would happen. While the idea of waiting here and relaxing until they came back to rescue me sounded like an awesome plan, doing so would most likely involve me drowning as well.

Can't a girl ever get a break?

Water rushed all over the floor, making almost pretty designs with the blood that had now surrounded me, but if I didn't get moving soon it would rise up above my nose and mouth. One more thing to do, Elena, then I could rest. Just gotta get back up again. No matter what I willed my limbs to do, they didn't want to move, didn't want to listen. But finally, that familiar fire began to burn in the tips of my fingers again, and I was able to wiggle them.

The water rose as I argued with my body, screaming at it to move. Each inch I moved felt like another kick to my spine, but it slowly began coming around. I managed to roll onto my stomach and push myself up onto my knees with quivering arms. At this point there wasn't just one pain, but just all of them melting into one big giant ball of ouch. Would I even be able to heal from all of this? How shitty would that be to get out of here just to die anyway.

No, I couldn't think like that. I wanted to see the boys again, wanted to see Raphael again. At least to tell him I loved him once more. I just had to concentrate on the next move now, and the next move was to stand up. I had a feeling that if I tried to stand straight up I'd fall over in a pitiful mess, so instead I crawled and sloshed through the rising water over to one of the steel beams below the observation room. Using the solid beam I shakily stood myself up and leaned on it with my chest. If I was able to get up to that room then maybe I'd have a chance of getting out. But there was no way in hell I'd be able to climb up there in my state.

A loud boom sounded from above me as a large hole appeared in the corner of the ceiling. Whatever was causing the explosions was also causing the compound to slowly start caving in, hence all the water. I had forgotten we were under a river. Whether the sounds I was hearing were from other explosions or just the sounds of the compound collapsing I didn't quite know.

Either way, I needed to figure a way out of here otherwise I'd drown. Is it sad to have wished for some gills to have been included on me? Was there an extra options package I could purchase?

Water rushed in faster than before and within a minute or so it was already up to my waist. I tried reaching and pulling myself up on the beam, but had to stop when the muscles in my back screamed against the wood fragments still embedded. I tried to get them out earlier, and failed, but now I didn't have a choice. They had to come out.

It's hard to tune out pain when it's coming from everywhere at once, so at least when I reached around this time and sunk my claws into the wooden pieces I didn't collapse from the pain of them ripping my flesh and muscles. I knew splinters were still embedded in my back, but I would have to deal with those later. At least the huge shards were gone.

Blood surrounded me in the water, and I saw Brad's body floating by as the water continued to rise. The coolness of it felt good against my aches and pains, but I couldn't just stay here and swim. I needed to get up to that room and get the hell out of here.

I weakly clung to the steel beam with both of my legs for support, and used the claws on one of my hands to dig into the wall. I could see where it had given away to Brad's weight, but it held underneath mine. Good thing I was lighter than him. I slowly began pulling myself up by gouging the wall and tightening my thighs against the steel beam when I needed the extra support against falling.

I wasn't moving fast, but at least I was moving faster than the water was rising. I got as high as I could but then realized I was still a good ten feet or more away from the room. Normally that wouldn't have been a problem at all, but considering my current predicament I didn't know if I'd have enough oomph to get over there. I had to try though.

At least if I didn't make it I would have a slightly less sucky landing this time.

I clung to the wall and beam for a moment in an attempt to call forth any energy I could use to make the jump.

My legs pushed with everything they had, my arms reaching out to get their handhold.

Thank god, I barely caught the lip of the edge that I had been swinging from earlier. Just barely, without my claws it wouldn't have happened. They sunk in as far as they could, and finally I was able to pull myself up to stand flat against the cracked glass. It looked like the shaking of the compound had cracked some of the glass further, but I noticed a tiny piece of wood that had actually pierced the pane from an earlier chunk Brad had thrown at me.

Inching over to it I wiggled the shard out and tossed it behind me, tentatively sticking a claw into the small opening to see how sturdy the pane actually was. It wasn't as thick as the bullet-proof glass down below, but it was still sturdier than your everyday window. I managed to pull small pieces of glass away from the hole, but if I just sat here and did only that it would take all day to make a hole big enough for me.

Ugh, I didn't want to think of the suckiness of the alternative, but it had to be done. My fist ached as I punched through and around the hole, creating a larger opening. Blood dripped down the shattered glass as I reached through and pulled chunks out to widen the hole so I could crawl through without cutting the rest of my body up. Really, in comparison to everything else I had been through the past day, a couple of scratches from glass were the least of my problems.

I collapsed onto the soft carpeted floor as soon as I was able to clear the glass and laid still for a moment. I needed to rest, needed to give my body a minute to recharge and maybe even heal a tiny bit without having to worry about any immediate danger.

Another explosion sounded somewhere near, shuddering the entire room. Well, that just cuts this break short now, didn't it.

Ignoring the screams from within my body I dragged my ass up and held onto the nearby couch for support in standing. My legs wobbled from the stress, and I could still feel the random twitch here and there from my electrocution earlier, but I was able to keep upright as I used the furniture to help me over to the door.

I tested the handle and saw the door was unlocked. Oh thank god, finally something was going right and I'd be able to get the hell out of here.

I had started to push open the door when another loud explosion sounded relatively near and the entire compound shook from the force, throwing me back down to the floor and covering my head to protect it from pieces of the ceiling and walls that had caved in. The lights flickered. Who knew how much longer the power would stay on.

The solid steel door had opened just a crack, but wouldn't open any further from the shift in the building. It was stuck. I peeked through the crack and saw huge chunks of wall had collapsed on the other side, preventing me from pushing it the other way. I tugged on the door just to confirm to myself that, yes, it was indeed stuck. Sonofabitch.

My knees felt wet and I glanced down to see the water had not only risen enough to start coming into the room, but it was also coming in from the hallway as well. Probably had less than ten minutes before this entire thing would be underwater. Dammit, I really need to stop having optimism so that way when everything went to hell I won't be surprised.

"Elena!" A voice I never thought I would hear from again echoed down the hallway from where I was trapped. I crawled back over and peeked through the crack to see Donnie and Raph barreling down the hallway towards me. They looked like hell had chewed them up and spit them out, but they were there and alive.

But where were Mikey and Leo? My heart clenched at the thought, but I had to push it deep down in order to keep my shit together. I couldn't lose it now.

Maybe…just maybe though, we had a chance.


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter 45

The sounds of Donnie's furious typing were almost loud enough to overcome the echoes of the heart beating out of my chest. "It means if I don't figure out how to stop the surge, it's going to kill her."

I couldn't watch. Each jerk and twitch her body experienced caused my own heart to be sliced in half. D's full focus was on the screen and his typing, so nothing I could do would even help the situation. I was the brawn of the family, the muscle, and if there was one thing I was good at it was beating someone to a bloody pulp.

 _Barney_. He should be there feeling every single jolt of electricity Elena was going through right now. I narrowed my eyes on the squirming pile of bodies and stomped over there. If I couldn't help my brother with the techie stuff I sure as hell could help teach this asshole a lesson.

The guards had begun to come to and reeled back when they saw how furious I was as I approached them. Trigger happy was still passed out, which was good, otherwise I may not be so nice to him in my current mood. The small scientist groaned on the floor, though seemed happy that the sudden weight was off of his body; that is until he saw me hovering over him. I didn't even give him time to squeal in horror before lifting him up by the neck and slamming him against the wall.

"You sick son of a bitch!" I screamed in his face, my hand slowly closing around his windpipe. He weakly tried to pull my fingers away from his throat, but they were locked in. I yelled in frustration and punched him in the face, instantly hearing the snapping of his nose and watching the blood drip down.

"Turn it off!" I yelled at him before dragging him over and shoving his face down into the keyboard next to Donnie's area. "Start typing!"

"Raph! Stop!" Mickey came at me from behind, but I pushed him away with my free hand.

"No Mikey! He's the one behind all this! He's the one who _started_ all this! If it wasn't for him E would still be happy and normal, but now she's fighting for her damn life all because this asshole decided he wanted to play God!"

"Raph," Leo's weak voice caused me to pause, "Stop…please."

The sound of his voice; I'd never heard it that soft and weak before. I glanced over and saw Mikey go back to him, helping support Leo up the best he could. He had a couple of extra small wounds on top of what he got from the ceiling collapse on him earlier, but maybe the severity of the situation was finally starting to catch up to his exhaustion.

Growling in frustration I let go of Barney's neck, immediately eliciting a gasp and few choked coughs from the scientist. Ok, maybe I was holding him a little harder than I should have. He was still alive, though, which is more than he should enjoy at the moment.

"OK, guys we have some other problems to worry about," I heard Donnie call out from the station he was still typing at. Glancing up I saw Brad's body still convulsing, but Elena was lying still on the broken floor with blood pooling near her head. Nerd boy saw my hesitation and tried to sound calming, though it really didn't help. "She's not dead. At least, I don't think she is. I guess what I did to her at the park gave her just enough control over the device to be able to, for lack of a better term, rip it out of her neck. See? Look there, she's starting to move again. Though I don't know what initial or lasting injuries that thing could have caused her. I don't have any way to access her vitals at the moment."

He saw I was getting irritated at his rambling. "The other issue here is Barney has a type of timed self-destruct protocol set up through this entire compound. It won't explode everything at once, just some here, some there. Just enough to finally have this place cave in on itself and appear to the average person as a sort of sinkhole in the river. No one would bat an eye at that. I can't override it though so we need to get out of here fast before we're caught up in all of the debris."

"What about Elena?" Mikey asked before I could.

Donnie pushed his glasses up as he turned to look at all of us finally. "When the initial explosion happened it jarred the mechanism holding the doors to that training center enough to where they won't react to anything I key in. We can't get her out that way. But on my map there's a room above the training area we may have an easier time getting into. We just need to hurry before anything else explodes."

Leo sucked in a loud breath as he tried standing with Mikey. D and I looked at each other and frowned slightly, knowing fearless wouldn't like what we were about to say. As much as I wanted to call the shots, I nodded to him to let him break the news; we didn't have time for a fight and when I tried to give orders it tended to end up that way. I saw Barney trying to crawl away from us and put my foot on his back to pin him to the floor, stopping him in his tracks.

"Mikey, I need you to take Leo over behind that wall over there. There's an escape pod of sorts that will send you to the surfa-oh don't think I wouldn't see that as I was scouring through your records Dr. Stockman." D ignored the surprised squeal from under my foot. The scientist began to protest, but was quickly interrupted as I pushed my foot further into his back. "There's three total. We can't just leave these guys to drown, though they really should. Stuff as many as you can in one and get into the other one. We'll handle Barney and go get Elena."

Leo looked like he wanted to protest for all of two seconds before he slumped down further onto Mikey and nodded in defeat. Donnie saw he wasn't going to argue and turned to type in a few extra things, "Tie him up, Raph, I'm putting some extra information into his pod that will alert police to the pod's location. They'll also find some extra fun information about his scientific _inquiries_ of late…you kept records of all your prior victims, so their DNA is on file. It pretty much it links you to most of the missing person cases that've been reported in the past year. That should give them enough info to keep you locked up."

"Ok, let's get moving," I muttered as I hauled the protesting scientist over the wall where D said the pod was going to be. I punched him one more time in the face to knock him out before breaking both arms and tossing his limp body into the pod. The other three looked at me with surprised eyes and I just shrugged them off. "Hey, he's getting off easy compared to what he's done to E. And I made sure he was knocked out _before_ breaking his arms, ok? He can't escape if he can't open the door."

I could tell Leo wanted to scold me, but he just nodded his head and hid a small smile. That asshole, he agreed with me but didn't want to admit it. Oh well; I'll deal with the lectures from Mr. High and Mighty later. I helped Mikey load himself and Leo into the small pod, "Hey it's kinda tight in there, good thing you two like each other."

They both chuckled slightly and clasped mine and Donnie's hand before I looked Mikey straight in the eye, "Swim with him as far as you can and let us know where you end up. We'll come get you once we get Elena."

"Bro, don't you worry about us. Leo's got the best nurse in the world," he grinned when he heard the small laugh behind him, "you just go get our girl and make sure she's safe and sound."

"Sure thing lil brother." Donnie closed the pod and punched in some codes on the wall which dropped a cover over the three pods and ejected them from the compound.

More explosions rang through the compound, signaling that was time for us to leave. I had no idea where the hell we were going, so I let nerd boy take point and direct us where to go. Some hallways were blocked off completely with the threat of water entering the compound. It dripped from the ceiling and ran down cracks that littered the walls. It wasn't going to be too much longer before this entire place caved in on itself.

The stairwell that led up to the next level was blocked, so we had to loop back around and go to the elevator shaft. The doors were stuck, and I couldn't force them open on my own, but with his help we were able to get it open just enough to both squeeze through and jump in to grab the hanging wires. It rained down from up above making it difficult to hang onto the slick cords, but we were able to climb the few feet needed to get to entrance to the floor above us.

This floor looked like everywhere else we had seen, and I was lucky to have nerd boy with me otherwise I'd be hopelessly lost. He kept a map of the facility projected above his wrist, and I saw our position move closer to where he indicated Elena could be. I just hoped she's able to hold on long enough for us to get to her.

A loud boom erupted right next to us, throwing D and me into the opposite wall. Water began pouring in from all around us, and it quickly became disorienting as we fumbled around in the dark.

"C'mon, we have to go! That door is going to get blocked in a few seconds and then we'll _really_ be in some trouble!" I felt him grab my arm to help me up, pulling me towards the next corridor. We crashed through the steel door but he had me help him push it closed against the force of the water just in time for the barriers to rise, locking it in place.

We turned the last corner, and I didn't know what I was supposed to expect, but it wasn't _this_. The door that led into the room D talked about was open just a crack, but there was a ton of debris in front of it. At least there was still power in this section, and thus lights to see what the hell we were doing. Without hesitation I yelled out Elena's name as I ran up and started hefting large chunks of rubble out of my way.

I saw brief movement from the other side of the crack before her familiar gray eyes came into view, "Raph? Is that really y'all or am I already dead."

I stopped and got as close to the crack as I could, unable to get my hand through it to reach her, "We're here, babe, Donnie and I are here. You ok?"

A weak laugh came from her end, "I've seen better days. Where are the others?"

Of course she would notice Mikey and Leo missing, "They're ok. Fearless got a little busted up so Mikey is taking him topside. D and I are here to come get you out." Speaking of, I hadn't noticed nerd boy behind me hefting what rubble he could off the pile, "One sec, doll. We'll be in there in soon." Between the two of us we got the larger pieces moved out of the way before I finally tried to pull the door open. It budged just a little, but not nearly enough for either us or her to get through. Water had been on the floor the whole time, but I now realized it was noticeably deeper now, already up to my shins.

"It looks like the structural integrity of the building is starting to be compromised from the use of all the explosives," Donnie mumbled as he moved his scanner over the door trying to assess the situation. "Alerts are coming in and it looks like the floors below us are already submerged."

"Yeah," Elena's face peeked through the crack, snaking her hand out and grasping mine tightly. "The whole arena down there is filled, and it's finally made its way up here. I was trying to get out of here to get back to the elevator." Her face dropped when she saw the reaction on our faces, "That way's no good either, is it."

I shook my head, "Nope, too many explosions. Had a hallway collapse in on me and D a few minutes ago." Her grip on my hand loosened slightly, but I tightened mine, "Hey don't you give up just yet. Genius here is gonna get us out. Right Donnie?"

Again he had that look of concentration as he analyzed all the possible scenarios. Thank god he was on our side, because if not he could be some sort of evil super mastermind. "First thing's first. We have to reconvene and get the three of us in the same room, then I may have an idea. Elena? I'm going to need you to back up and get behind something sturdy in case this goes south."

She nodded and reluctantly let go of my hand, retreating further into the room. D pulled on the door slightly, testing that it was assuredly stuck and shortened his bo as small as it could get before wedging it between the lip of the door and the door jam. "Okay, Raph? We need to be quick once I do this, we may not have much time. Once I activate the extension on my staff we need to move inside otherwise we may have the entire ceiling cave in on us."

I nodded my acknowledgement and braced myself. "On the count of three. One, two, _three_!" he yelled as he activated the staff. Instantly the door popped open and we darted in, a split second before he correctly predicted the wall and ceiling caved in behind us. Unfortunately, so did more water and the area began filling faster than before.

I slogged through the water and grabbed Elena, pulling her tightly against my chest before easing up when I heard her squeal in pain. I knew she wanted to return the affection, but Donnie interrupted us.

"We don't have much time before this room fills up. Good thing it's connected to the larger room there otherwise we'd already be underwater," he slung one of his bags from his back and began rifling through it looking for something.

"What are we going to do?" Elena asked, leaning heavily against me. Now that I was so close to her I could tell just how much of a beating she had taken; I truthfully didn't know how she was even alive still. I cringed slightly when I realized my hands were covered in the blood from her back and who knows where else.

A devious look crossed Donnie's face as he proudly produced whatever device he had looked for in his bag, "Barney can't have _all_ the fun blowing stuff up, can he?"

"Wait, you've had a friggin _bomb_ in your bag this whole time? Even while fightin people? Ever thought that was a little _dangerous_?!"

Nerdy boy smirked as he tinkered with the device, "Well we found this after the initial encounter with Brad, in the room with that supply closet you found us in. I had a feeling we could use it for something!" He blinked a couple times at me, confused as to why I was so agitated, "What, I wrapped it in bubble wrap at least…"

Before I could continue on with my well-deserved rant, Elena interrupted and pointed to the now waist-high water, "You know guys, I'm not part fish, so could we continue this fight sometime else? That'd be great…"

"Yep, already working on it," Donnie continued casually, sloshing over to a hole in the glass and using his staff to break away a larger hole for all of us to fit through. He swam through it and made his way over to the far side of the arena and used one of the steel beams to shimmy up to the ceiling. Moments later, bomb affixed to the rafter, he splashed back down and returned.

"Ok, so the plan is once this place fills up I will activate the bomb to go off. That way the water can absorb a lot of the initial impact from any debris that would normally go flying. Then we can swim to the surface and around a lot of the debris." He spoke casually as he pulled up the layout of the compound again on his wrist to memorize our escape…like it was just a regular day in the friggin neighborhood.

"Um…yeah, so not a great swimmer, and remember? No gills," Elena spoke irritably, sensing my own rising frustration with the situation.

"Hmm?" he seemed confused, then realizing the predicament waded over to a counter area that held a small fridge and cabinets. He rifled through them both as well as the small sink underwater, grabbing a two liter of soda to which he poured out around him. I felt Elena shiver as the coolness from the water was starting to get to her.

Within a minute or two D walked back over to us producing the small makeshift air tank, "Here, it's held together with duct tape and won't last after one use, but that's all we need it for, right?" He took some cord from his bag and tied it to her upper arm, "This tube right here will give you the few breaths you'll need. We're not that far from the surface, so the amount of pressure on it and you _should_ be fine. Again, it's all we've got here."

You didn't need to be a mind reader to know she really, really, _really_ didn't like this plan. But he was right, we really didn't have any other alternatives.

"What about you guys?" I heard her voice tremble, and probably not just from being cold.

I gave her a small smirk and reassuring squeeze, "Nah, we'll be fine. We can hold our breath for a good bit. Remember…turtles."

We moved over and through the window, free floating just outside the observation room while the water continued to flow in around us. We were just a foot or so from the top of the ceiling when the sudden feeling of claustrophobia took hold on her and I had to try and hold her to keep from fighting and making us both go under.

"Hey, doll, look at me." She stopped fighting and just froze still. Her eyes stared up to me and there was only a couple of times where I'd seen the kind of fear where the next few moments would be her last. "We'll get through this. And then later we'll have some beers and tell Mikey and Leo just how badass you were, ok?"

I thought maybe she was starting to chill out until her ears touched the ceiling and she started resisting again. You couldn't really blame her for freakin out.

"I can do it now without too much extra danger," I barely heard Donnie over the sounds of water and the building creaking, "The structural integrity of this facility is starting to give way to the pressure of the explosions, so the minute or two difference shouldn't actually hinder anything. We would need to push down a couple feet to give some extra protection though."

"You ready for this?" I pulled her close and whispered in her ear. She clung to me and tried to slow her breathing, but I knew it was hard just from feeling her body shiver uncontrollably.

"Yeah…yeah, I think I am," her voice cracked in response. I looked over at D and nodded, then turned to place my shell between her and the explosion.

"Ok, Elena, look at me," our heads were fully against the ceiling now, and pretty soon she'd have to tilt her face up to breath. "When D gives the signal I want you to take the biggest breath you can and just hold onto me, ok? You got it? We're gonna make it outta here." I leaned forward and held her face to plant a small reassuring kiss.

A moment of silence rang through the area as nerd boy had to duck underwater to get a better look at the configurations on his wrist. A second or two later he came back up, "Ok, here we go. In five, four…" he began counting down.

As he got to one I waited until I heard her take a lungful of air, which didn't sound like much given her injuries, and pulled us under the water just as he hit the button.


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Everything always sounds different underwater; no matter if you're just lying prone in the bathtub relishing in the warmth or in my current position being pricked and stabbed by the river's icy embrace. I always assumed because everything always sounds muffled underwater that it would also lessen the intensity of the noise.

Which is yet another example of why I always sucked at science in school.

The power behind the blast propelled me and Raphael through the water and we hit the far wall of the training room; the sound from the blast was so loud it made my ears want to run screaming from my body. What breath I was able to suck in prior to going below got forcefully pushed out of my lungs by his body weight, but at least he was able to scramble and catch himself from completely squishing me. The explosion destroyed all the lights and I couldn't see anything in the now black abyss that surrounded us; yet something else I didn't think about ahead of this stupid idea and had no help in relieving my anxiety. His arms pulled me down and shielded me protectively as pieces of what I assumed were the room and ceiling smashed into the wall next to us like huge missiles.

My mind took over and I tried to gasp for air, but realized I was now completely underwater and helpless. I flailed helplessly around searching for the mouth piece Donnie had fashioned for me, and was relieved to finally grab the small tube. I sucked hard and got a lungful of sweet sweet air.

Raph pulled away but I reached out to keep a hand on him in the darkness. A light flickered on in the distance and I could see Donatello swimming rather gracefully towards us. The brothers signaled to each other before Raph had me grab onto the back of his shell while he swam us both to safety. My fingers by this point were tiny shards of icicles, much like the dozens of pains that ran through me, but I clutched my entire body as close to him as I could nonetheless.

Chunks of ceiling and what I could only assume was the remaining structure began rushing down from above, and I was barely able to hang on as the two of us whirled out of the way. The only light in this inky hell was bobbing and weaving as well, so I just closed my eyes and tried not to hyperventilate in my panic. I had never guessed I would be fearful of enclosed spaces seeing as how I spent so much time in the sewers when I was younger, but the brief memory of just before the explosion made my heart hitch in my chest.

Even with my eyes closed I could tell it was something I probably didn't want to see. Even as the water rushed passed us I could still tell there were huge chunks of _whatever_ coming much closer than I'd like. My hands ached from the numbness and cold water and it became harder and harder to hang onto Raph's shell as he had to jerk out of the way every so often.

Then it happened. I couldn't tell what it was, but something big hit and split the two of us up. It was still super dark down here and my eyes couldn't focus on anything. What happened? Where was Raph and Donnie? Were they hurt? I reached out and flailed my arms frantically, searching for anything familiar, though all I felt was the cold river water between my hands.

I needed to calm down, take a breath, and reassess the situation. The moment I touched the plastic tubing, though, I realized I had a whole other problem to worry about, and _now_.

Whatever had hit us, whatever chunk had separated us, left behind a small shard of rock of something that was now lodged in the only thing keeping me alive for the next few moments. I quickly took what remaining air I could from the bottle and wanted to scream out as the rest of it bubbled upwards. Just fucking great. Everytime I moved it released more bubbles that zoomed up towards the surface.

The surface; that's where I needed to be. Maybe Raph and Donnie were trying to find me as well but they'd have to eventually get to the surface. Then I could reconvene with them. Images of them being pinned down to the bottom of the river ran through my head and I forcefully pushed them away as I tried to start swimming in the same direction as those bubbles. I couldn't panic…

My entire body began protesting my fight to the surface. It felt like I had been run over by a dump truck not once, not twice, but dozens of times. The cold water didn't help as all my muscles wanted to start stiffening in the cold river. I couldn't panic…

The sunlight from above began to filter through the water, but I still couldn't see anything due to all the sinking building and sediment whirling around. I wanted to cry out in pain as each piece impacted and sliced me, but I had to conserve what little air I had left in my cold body. I couldn't panic…

And then something grabbed my arm. Images of a zombie Brad came into focus like a bad horror movie villian, or some unknown river monster. Hell, maybe New York had its own version of Nessie that had never been discovered.

Now was a _perfect_ time to fucking panic.

Whatever had my arm was strong and refused to let go, even as I weakly clawed against the thick, scaly skin.

Wait.

Scaly skin?

My claws retracted as I clutched to the hand, and was thankfully pulled against a firm plastron, though one that was not as bulky as the one I was accustomed to. Donatello's arm snuck around my waist and held me firm against him as we began our ascent to the surface, only seconds after we began moving did his other hand finally get the lights above his goggles working again.

Where was Raphael though, did something happen to him? My heart seized in my chest at the thought of him no longer being around, and I didn't think I could carry on if he wasn't there beside me. After growing up together, being apart for so many years, and finally realizing what feelings we each had for one another…No, he couldn't be gone.

My lungs burned and I couldn't prevent my body from trying to inhale any longer. The rush of water into my throat and lungs caused my body to try and cough it out, which caused more river water to enter.

As much as my body instinctively resisted the intake of water I felt awkwardly calm, like my mind had become detached from feeling anything physical at that point. I could see the panicked look on Donnie's face now, though darkness began to creep in from the outer edges of my vision range. He reached forward and tried to blow some of his own air supply into me, but there was too much water…

So this was it. This was how I was going to go out, even after all I've done and seen.

Images flashed through my vision, drowning out his face.

 _I leaned down onto the ground and stuck my face into the opening of the storm drain. I was not expecting to see four young creatures, their faces mirroring my own surprise._

 _Shrieks and laughter rang through the lair as a young Michelangelo and I snuggled on the couch watching bad horror flicks._

 _"_ _Don't let it get away!" Anya yelped as I helped her hold the fishing pole tight._

 _Classical music filtered through the air at Nathaniel's wedding. The gorgeous couple and my parents share the floor and move across the ballroom magically. Everyone is so happy and content._

 _"_ _Again!" Leonardo dodged out of the way as I came at him with an attack. I bent over and held my pained side. He was taunting me, willing me to attack him. I couldn't let him win this match._

 _Board games spread out on the table, the other players absent from either defeat or boredom. Donatello adjusted his glasses and concentrated on the scenario before him. Just two armies left on the board. His and my own. Someone was going to win tonight, but it wasn't him._

 _"_ _You ok?" He cupped my face with both of his hands after I accidentally bit my lip reaching up to give him a hug. I covered his hands with my own and looked into his eyes. There was so much kindness and concern behind his gruff exterior. No matter what I knew I was safe with him. I reached up and pulled his face down to mine, connecting our lips for the first time. Everything just felt…right._

Seconds felt like hours as black dots began to overshadow their faces and bodies in each memory. No!

I didn't want to die. I had so much more to see, so much more to do. So much more…

Raphael…


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Light. There was light everywhere; so blinding that I felt it may burn my eyes clear out of their sockets. But nothing hurt at all. In fact, everything was pretty numb and I couldn't really tell my up from down.

Slowly, though, it all started to come back to me. I was laying down flat, and the light softened as I began to feel out my surroundings.

The warm sun beamed down as a slight wind rustled through my hair, tickling my nose. I haphazardly batted away the offending strands and yawned as I sat up and stretched my muscles. A smile crossed my face as I looked out over the beautiful lake in front of me. This was a more secluded spot than most of the other touristy parts in the area, but I felt myself drawn to this place over and over. Even on days when most normal people would cower and hide in their buildings, afraid of even a single raindrop, I preferred to sit and soak up every single one in each pore of my body. Even if I got chilled to the bone, it was refreshing to have no other sort of technology or modern marvel in sight. It was like this place was frozen in time, and I was blessed to be able to observe it in all its glory.

My chest and head were slightly sore, but I assumed it was from the log I normally propped myself against. It was easy to fall asleep out here, in all its peacefulness and genuine quiet, and I did on many occasions. In all my travels of the world, this was my favorite, and I came here often to think about my life and get lost in my daydreams.

I reached down to grab my notebook and gasped as I saw my hairless forearm. I reached up to rub my eyes and felt no fur, no weird snout, no ears on top of my head. Pushing myself against the log I bolted down to the water's edge and looked in its reflective surface. Sure enough, I was back to my normal, human looking self. Happiness flooded through my body momentarily at the thought of being normal again.

But…wait then, was everything else a dream? I felt a pit form in my stomach. Was I still in Japan, and hadn't yet made it back to the United States?

I shook my head to clear my thoughts as I peeked around me. Nope, nothing had changed. The trees that bordered the west side of the lake were still there, the fields on the east side, my log sat right where it belonged. My log. That was my comfortable place, where I would sit for hours on end and watch the time pass me by as I contemplated my place on earth. I felt drawn to it, drawing my knees to my chest as I inevitably returned to my safe place.

What was I doing here? Everything seemed _so_ real, and I could feel the threat of tears pricking at the back of my eyes as the thought of losing the things and people I hadn't yet had. If I am here, then I am set to return to the United States within a few weeks. Was this all a foreshadowing? Or even a bad dream?

I reached down to grab my journal and set out to write down my thoughts and experiences. Even with all the horrible things that happened I didn't want to chance forgetting anything. My pencil had only logged down a few words before I stopped suddenly.

I didn't hear the typical scratching of the lead across the rough pages. I leaned my head down again and put my ear closer as I moved the pencil across the paper.

No sound. And that's when I realized I hadn't heard _any_ thing since I awoke. No birds, no gurgles or sounds of water, no grass crunching below my feet. Nothing. I poked near the entrance to my ear and was glad to at least hear a slight thump in that sense. Ok, so at least I'm not magically deaf. That's a start.

I looked back up and screamed loudly when I noticed Master Splinter sitting in his normal lotus position next to me. "Jesus, don't do that!"

His eyes were closed and he looked to be deep in meditation, but the moment he heard my voice he started opening his eyes. He blinked a few times, allowing his eyes to adjust to the brightness of the sun before setting his eyes on me and smiling. He opened his arms and beckoned me towards him for a hug, "Elena, it is so good to see you, my daughter."

I leaned over and allowed him to wrap me in his warm embrace. I had always looked upon the rat as a type of second father, and was glad to give in to his request. But then the pit in my stomach grew larger and I pulled back slightly to look him in the eyes.

"You're here, and you called me 'Elena' instead of 'Ms. Carter' that you used to always do before I left. Which means that…that everything was real, and so that…" I trailed off as all the pieces began falling into place. "Oh my god…I really am dead this time, aren't I?"

The old rat's gaze softened as he saw my distress. He slowly pushed up and used the log behind him to help stand and took in the scenery around us. Clasping his hands behind his back he slowly made his way down towards the water, leaving me behind. What the hell was he doing? This wasn't a friggin field trip.

I quietly followed behind him as he stood at the water's edge and looked out across the lake and adjoining forests and fields. He stood still for a few more agonizing moments before speaking.

"This place is beautiful, Elena. I can tell by the rice fields we are in Japan, but which part?"

I frowned slightly at his choice of topic. Here I am wanting to know if I was six feet under and he wanted a tour. "This is outside a small village in the Mie prefecture. It's actually the last place I stayed in before coming home to the states. A nice older couple let me stay in their guest room as I was backpacking through the area and I actually ended up spending the most time out of everywhere right here. I think I was here a few months? I came towards the end of the cherry blossoms and started the rainy season, then stayed through the summer with them."

I couldn't help but smile when I remembered the Tanakas; they were the cutest couple I had ever met and I grew to love them as part of my extended family. They married quite young, and had been married probably longer than my own parents had been alive, but each day to them was just another chance to tell each other how much the other meant to them. They took me in as almost a foster child since they were never able to have children of their own.

It was hard to leave them to come back to the states, but I had spent enough time away at that point and knew it was time. I wish I would have sent them something more than the 'I love NYC' postcard I mailed off as soon as I returned home. They were probably worried sick about me.

I looked back at Splinter and could tell he was waiting for me to finish my current thought. "You know, after I passed the art of ninjutsu along to my sons we located a permanent place of residence shortly thereafter."

I nodded my head at the memory. It wasn't too long after my first initial meeting with the brothers that their father began teaching them. Maybe it was because of me that he felt they needed to learn how to protect themselves in the event they met others down the road that may not be so open to learning about creatures like themselves.

"After we had established what is now our home Donatello began setting up his communication station that had access to…what was it called again? Oh, yes. The internet. I was able to research much about the birthplace to our way of life, but always wished I'd be able to see but even a small sliver." He stroked his long beard and chuckled slightly, "I doubt many airlines would be agreeable to a patron such as I, even if I paid more than my fair share."

"I want to thank you, Elena, for allowing me to see this," he whispered before clasping his hands behind his back once more, "This is truly a magnificent sight."

"So what exactly _is_ this," I motioned with my arms to the surrounding areas. "Right before you showed up I realized there are _no_ sounds, which is freaky as hell since I can hear you fine. And seeing as how I just 'woke up' from a weird ass dream where lots of stuff happened and I pretty much died at the end of it, I have a bad feeling that now it's not so much a dream but more like the end of my own life." He stood there watching the calmness of the lake and not over at me.

"So tell me, please Splinter," I tried not to let my voice waver. "Am I dead?"

I could see the barely visible signs of his jaw clenching, "Yes."

If my heart were still beating it would have stopped right there. Which would normally be a funny idea if it weren't actually happening to me. I quickly wiped away the wetness that threatened to fall from my eyes.

He turned and saw my distress and came over, cradling each side of my face in his hands, "And no."

My hands snaked up and held his fur covered paws, "What do you mean? Yes, and no? Please tell me I'm not some sort of zombie. Though Mikey would probably love that I don't think that would be a good thing to unleash on the city." I tried to laugh, but all that came out was a small and choked sob.

Master Splinter removed his hands and beckoned me to walk slowly with him along the shore of the lake towards the side that bordered the forest. "My sons briefed me on what happened after you escaped from the lair, and do not fret, I am fine." His ears twitched as he heard my small gasp at the mention of my escape from the lair earlier. It seemed so long ago that I had forgotten I had tried to hurt him. "It seems that during their attempt at escape from Mr. Stockman's underwater compound they had issues with your air supply. By the time you reached the surface it had already been several minutes without oxygen."

"You died at that point. Your heart stopped beating, but Donatello was able to resuscitate you. He regrouped with Raphael and the others to return home with your body, though they had to stop a few more times along the way to revive you yet again."

He regrouped with Raphael, I inwardly smiled at the thought. That meant he survived the ordeal as well. Good, I was worried about him being hurt or worse. Though to hear about how many times they had to revive me was scary; I don't even know how they were able to keep me alive.

"How…" I started hesitantly as I slowed down my pace, "How are they? Are they ok?"

"Their bodies have healed," he replied after a moment. I noticed we had reached the edge of the forest that bordered the lake. "Though at the moment they contain more injuries that even conventional medicine cannot help with."

"What do you mean? Donnie's like a literal genius and can rig almost anything up. I'm sure he'd be able to help everyone out…"

Splinter stayed silent as he turned from the water's edge towards me. "Elena, my dear, it is possible to be cut deeper than any blade, to sustain an injury so great that it is not even visible to the eye or even sophisticated machines." He reached over and touched in the middle of my chest, right where my sternum sat. "Sometimes injuries _here_ cannot be fixed."

The turtles. Me being dead. It all started to click in my head now and I felt horrible knowing I was the cause for so much of their pain. "But, how can I do anything to help if I'm dead?"

"But you aren't," he replied nonchalantly, like we were talking about a simple story, not the balance of my very existence. "Your body healed quite nicely on its own once they returned you to the lair and provided some additional first aid. But therein lie the problem. A body cannot continue on without its very core as well. It seems somehow during the attempt to move you to safety your spirit became detached from your body. Some people would also call it your soul, your chi, your aura…there are many ways to describe your inner being."

His eyes roamed over to the trees that dotted the edge of the forest, "If you remove the roots from a tree, will it not wither and die over time? Your soul is the very root of who you are, and without it your body is a mere husk of your former life. Your enhanced healing brought you back from the brink once the more serious injuries were attended to, but after so long of being a husk it has begun to deteriorate again."

I crossed my arms and contemplated his words. So I was alive technically, but basically a vegetable on the slab. That was definitely on the top of my lists of worst things to happen. "How long has it been since we escaped the compound? How long have I been out?"

"We are nearing the six month mark."

Had I been drinking anything it would have been spit everywhere. _Six months?!_ I had to lean forward and grab his shoulder to prevent myself from falling over in distress. "That's…that's impossible. It seems like just a few moments ago I was underwater with Donnie and trying to stay alive." Splinter held me close to him as I grabbed on tighter. "How has it been six months already?"

"Time flows differently here it seems," he responded quietly as he stroked my hair, "but the past six months have been a whirlwind of sorrow and sadness in the lair."

I looked up at him and saw him fight the tears that began to form behind his eyes. I had never seen him cry at all, and it was alarming, "each of my sons is slowly wasting away, much like your body has begun to do as well. I fear they will not be able to exist as they were if you are unable to return to your former self before...the inevitable."

They were hurting because of me. They were _dying_ because of me. I needed to get back not only to save my own skin, but theirs as well. "Master Splinter, tell me how."

He pulled away gently to look me straight in the eyes, "I regret I cannot stay much longer, but you have to reconnect the parts that have been severed." The hand that had rested on my shoulders began to become transparent, and when I reached up to place my hand on his it went straight through to my own shoulder. "I have been on this plane too long and my body is calling me back. If I don't go I, too, will wither and die."

"What? Where are you going? Wait!" I cried out as his form slowly began to fade away, the remnants of his spirit slowly spiraling into the air like smoke from a fire.

Son of a bitch.

Just what in the hell was I supposed to do now?


	48. Chapter 48

Note: This is the last chapter of this story! It took me a long time to write/edit, and I hope all or even some of y'all enjoyed it. Please leave any reviews to let me know how I'm doing, as I'm working on an original fic at the moment (if by 'moment' that includes the past 8 years lol).

Thanks all and happy reading!

Chapter 48

"What? Where are you going? Wait!" I cried out as Splinter's form slowly began to fade away, the remnants of his spirit slowly spiraling into the air like smoke from a fire. Son of a bitch, what the hell was I supposed to do now? The quiet sounds of the area began to filter into my hearing now as the leaves of the trees rustled behind me, the birds perched in their branches chirping happily with one another.

I needed to get back, but how was I going to do that? The threat of a panic attack threatened to overtake me, and I had to kneel down in the damp grass to breathe slowly as I regained control.

So I needed to reconnect my soul with my body, but how the hell was I supposed to do _that_? There wasn't exactly a friggin handbook or anything available that laid all the instructions out there for me. Breathe, Elena. Breathe. And think. I could figure this out.

A slight breeze blew through my hair that came from within the forest behind me. Splinter had mentioned trees and roots, could that have been a hint? I stood up and brushed myself off before making my way slowly into the forest. I had ventured into these woods during many of my outings out to this location, but I quickly realized that this was not the same forest as I remembered. After only a few steps I turned back around to look at the lake to get my bearings and realized it was no longer there. Dense trees surrounded me everywhere, and the light from above dimmed with the thick canopy that overshadowed the forest floor.

What was going on? I ventured further into the forest, not really knowing exactly where I was going, but getting anxious at the thought of being lost in here. A slight rustling caught my attention, and I called out to it, "Hello? Who's there?"

A harsh snorting erupted from behind the bushes and out poked through a wolverine. I had never seen one in person before, and I'd been told they had tempers much larger than their size. All the ferocity of a bear and wolf packed into something the size of a large dog, but with the attitude of Raphael multiplied by like a thousand. These things could take down large elk and other creatures without a second glance, and here I was, standing right before one.

It snuffed through the bushes, poking around with its snout and sniffing its surroundings. In my head I was telling myself to run, this thing could literally eat me in less than a minute, but deep down I felt no immediate fear. These things weren't found in Japan, and I already knew this world or area I was in wasn't the real world I was used to.

The animal stopped its sniffing and lifted its head to look me dead in the eyes before growling deep within its belly. Ok, so the fear is now here and I'm out. I backed away slowly from the approaching animal, its lips pulled back to show its _very_ sharp teeth.

"Easy, fellah, easy there," I said gently as I looked to my sides for a way to escape. Its growling got louder as it crept towards me, taking a low stance and almost crawling on the ground. "No, really…trust me I don't want to make you angry…" I tried to sound harmless as I continued backing up, but this thing kept moving towards me, its eyes locked on mine.

It wasn't until I bumped into something large and furry that I realized it _wasn't_ me the wolverine was looking at. Directly behind me was the very large and very bear-like mutant version of Brad. He didn't talk, didn't utter a word, but a deep growl resonated deep within his barrel chest as saliva dripped from his mouth.

This wasn't Brad. Brad was dead and I was in some sort of weird purgatory afterlife thing. I couldn't get hurt here, could I? Before I could jump out of his way he used one of his huge paws to swipe at the wolverine that had lunged towards his face. Unfortunately I was in the crossfire and ended up getting batted away from the dueling pair and directly into a tree.

Ok, so yeah. Just confirmed I could feel pain as it felt like my back exploded into a thousand tiny shards from the impact against the large tree. I wheezed, trying to regain my breath from the force of the hit, and willed the stars in my vision to go away. Between the two animals fighting I couldn't tell one snarl from another, but knew I didn't want to stick around to find out the outcome. I needed to find a way out of this forming hell.

I clawed at the ground, regaining my senses and moved as quickly as my injured body could muster away from the fight. Whatever was going on, I didn't want any part of it.

If I died here, would I actually die in real life then? I didn't want to think about it, but seeing as how I was up against some very angry and very powerful things in this place I needed to at least keep tucked away in my mind for future reference. I couldn't just run somewhere half-cocked which could cause not only my body's death but possibly the turtles as well. I needed to stay alive, and get _back_ alive so I could save them.

The sound of the altercation between Brad and the wolverine dwindled down the further I got into the forest. I still had no idea where I was going or even what I was supposed to do when I found something. What the hell was I even supposed to be looking for? Think, Elena, think. I know Splinter had a tendency to be cryptic and all, but I just need to chill the hell out and think. I took as deep a breath as I could even though my lungs hurt to no end.

And that's when I saw it. This _had_ to be the thing Splinter was talking about. If not I was absolutely screwed.

Sunlight made its way down into a small clearing in the dense forest, its brightness shining down on an odd tree in the middle of a small hill. It didn't look like any other type of tree I had seen in my travels here or really anywhere. The bright blood red leaves reflected the sun around the clearing giving the entire area an eerie red glow. I walked closer to it and noticed it had pulled some of the roots up out of the ground as it collapsed to its now prone position; many of the roots hung exposed in the air but had ripped away from most of the tree's firm trunk. Only a few strands of the roots were still connected.

He wasn't exaggerating when he said the roots were separated from the tree, but how the hell was I supposed to reattach them? I was no green thumb, but I always understood that once the two were separated the tree would pretty much die off. I didn't exactly have any sort of spiritual duct tape or superglue handy. Was there no hope in my situation?

I walked fully around the entire tree and saw many of its leaves had fallen off its branches and sat brown and dead on the forest floor. I could feel a lump begin to rise in my throat, but quickly pushed it back down. I'd figure this out. I had to.

I just didn't know how to go about it. I walked back to the roots and retrieved some of the broken and shattered pieces from the ground. I felt silly as I held it up to bridge the gap between the main bulk of the roots and the tree, and cursed out loud when nothing happened. Of course nothing was going to happen. What was I expecting? Some sort of magic?

A loud crash caught my attention and sure enough things were about to get much, much worse. It seemed the fight between the wolverine and Brad's mutant form had somehow made its way here, and the two creatures brawled incessantly with one another. I climbed up on top of the collapsed tree to try and get some sort of protection from the fray.

The small creature seemed to be holding its own, against the huge mutant. It clung to Brad's back and bit down hard on his shoulder, his ribs, anywhere he wasn't currently swatting at to remove it. The bear roared in pain as it sank its teeth yet again into his shoulder and was finally able to get a hold of the small beast's fur before flinging it away from him. The moment it hit a tree I felt an explosion of pain burst through my body.

I knelt down on the tree and clutched my chest as I sucked in a painful breath. What happened? He didn't hit me at all, but it felt like I had been flung against that tree with it. Brad turned and looked at me, the evil grin crossing his features once more. This wasn't Brad though, I killed him. This was just an insane sort of ghost bear that was trying to kill me. Unless fate really had it out for me and decided to just drag his dead spirit on over here to torture me as well.

Brad charged straight out of nowhere, and I barely had enough time to react. All I could do in my normal pre-mutant human form was try to outrun and outmaneuver him. There'd be no way I could take him on in a one on one fight.

I dropped down through some spaces in between the roots below me, and I cringed as part of the rough bark scratched the hell out of my arms and torso. I flattened myself against the ground as much as possible as he clawed and ripped at the roots protecting me above. Out of the corner of my eye I could see more and more leaves falling with each section of root he destroyed.

So it was as I thought. If all the roots became detached from the tree I'm sure I was as good as dead. Like _dead_ dead with no way to come back. I had to try and stop him, but how was I supposed to do that as a human?

A large snarl got my attention and from out of nowhere the small black wolverine was back and pouncing at the large bear. Even though it had to be a small fraction of Brad's size, it was just enough of a push to make the bear falter and tumble off the tree. I realized if I wanted to survive any of this I'd have to help it out.

Both bodies tumbled and rolled around on the ground, the sound of their loud growls and snapping jaws echoed in the clearing. I looked around searching for something, _anything_ , that could help me help it. There, on the other side of them was a longer piece of wood I could maybe arm myself with. I could wing it from there.

I waited until their gnashing and clawing limbs were a few further inches from my small hole before dashing out from my safe place. Brad stuck out his leg to try and kick me as I passed, but I jumped over it and tumbled over to where the sharpened stick lay upon the ground. During my training with Leonardo he had me learn many other weapons as well, and I had a little bit of training with Donatello and his staff.

But most of that training was after I had been turned into a mutant. All I did prior to that was basic self defense moves. There'd be no way I could stand up to something this big with just a _stick_.

I didn't have time to think as Brad flung the wolverine off of him again in my direction. The small bundle hit the ground hard and rolled a few times before stopping on all fours in front of me. It glanced behind me briefly before focusing back on him and snarling in anger.

"Yeah, I want him gone too," I huffed out as the bear charged at us again. "At least I know you're on my side!" I tried to duck out of Brad's way, but was too slow. Just as his paw was about to come down and crush me I heard a snap and whimper as the wolverine dodged to place itself in between him and me. The small animal got batted away and into another tree, where I heard something break. Whether it was the tree or the wolverine I wasn't sure, but it was slower to get up than before.

In that small moment Brad made the mistake of taking his eyes off of me to grin at the pain he caused. I gritted my teeth and yelled out a string of curse words as I jabbed the stick up at his arm, sinking it deep into his armpit and up into his shoulder blade. He roared in pain as I ducked down and out of his reeling body to make my way over to the smaller animal.

It limped slightly, but did not balk or growl when I got near to quickly inspect the leg. There was no blood or protruding bone, so I didn't really know how badly it was hurt. Brad was at least occupied for a moment as he struggled to remove the makeshift pike from his arm.

A small flurry of movement caught my attention as I saw the newly shattered tendrils of root begin to knit themselves back together, connecting themselves back to the trunk of the tree. How? Why? What did I do that would have caused that?

I looked back to the animal before me and felt the sensation of a cloud being lifted from my vision. It all made sense now.

I had so much disdain for what I had become, that I never realized just how strong or powerful I could become if I fully embraced that side of me. Each time my mutation was mentioned or even thought about I hated myself that much more for being so. I hated myself. I never wanted to become a mutant, and would have done almost anything to become 'normal' again. Even when I 'woke up' recently and saw I was human I was initially so happy at the thought of being rid of my mutation. I wanted to separate myself from that part of me, but according to the science behind the mutation it had been a large part of me all along. I appeared as a bear, but that was because of the genetic manipulation from Brad and his uncle. The dominant creature was always the animal before me.

Master Splinter had tried to help me meditate and learn to respect and acknowledge that side of me, but in the months of training I never fully wanted to accept that it had even truly happened. Like magic I may one day be a normal human and go back to my prior life.

"So I need to recognize that you are a part of me; that I'm stronger because of it, and to deny any of your existence is to deny myself…" I whispered in realization out loud. The wolverine lowered its head and limped a few paces with closed eyes to stop directly in front of my lap. I heard Brad toss the stick aside and growl in anger as he readied another attack, but my focus wasn't on him. I reached down and held the creature's head in my hands and brought my own forehead down to press against its dense fur.

"I should have never denied you even existed," I felt myself whisper as I stroked the fur on the side of its head with my thumbs. "I was wrong. You kept me safe when I should have been dead…please help me again."

The ground quivered under the looming form of the charging threat. I kept my eyes closed; this could be my final moment in all eternity.

Wind began to swirl around us, twisting faster and faster until it became almost impenetrable. I chanced a small peek and saw flecks of golden light glimmering through the swirls; the shadow of the charging bear almost seeming like an old fashioned moving picture, though it still continued to come closer.

Suddenly, and without any warning my body lifted of its own accord into the air. I felt like I could not have fought it if I even wanted to, but I was not scared. Warmth coursed through every vein, the golden glow inhabited every pore of my being. My torso extended to its full length, my head arching back as the light erupted from my mouth and eyes.

One second the bear was upon me, the next a sonic explosion rang through the area and the light burst in all directions, and with it flinging Brad away from me harshly. The force of the explosion was so great that most small trees in the near vicinity cracked and toppled over. I landed gracefully on my own two feet and quickly dropped down into a crouch to observe my situation.

The wolverine was gone. In its absence, though, it seemed my body had returned to its mutated state. So much more available power made my muscles quiver in excitement, and it was almost like my own body was separate from my being and _happy_ to be back in this mutated form.

A slight rustling caught my attention and I watched as Brad dug his way out of the pile of trees that collapsed on top of him. I glanced over and saw more and more roots from the large tree began to stretch and reach out, like growing stalks, twisting to reconnect with the base of the trunk. Small buds of red leaves slowly bloomed from some of the bare branches. Yes, that's what I'm talking about.

Brad's roar got my attention as he began to bull rush me again. Stretching my legs I took off towards him, claws at the ready. I needed to use his size against him and finish this fast. I didn't know what kind, if any, skills this mutant ghost thing had, but I wanted to prevent an all out extended warfare which could work against me. Leo had taught me a couple things before my mutation if I were ever to come up against someone bigger. I was supposed to use my attacker's body against them, and I had an idea.

His charge was erratic, but it was obvious his attacks were all supposed to be about brute strength instead of a coordinated strike. He pushed past some of the medium sized trees that survived the blast; trees that may support someone of my size. I ran towards him and waited for the exact moment to time my slide, straightening my body out and gliding on the ground underneath him and through his legs. He had just passed another tree and I immediately used my momentum to run up its body before crouching quickly as high as I could and pushing off to jump back towards him.

The plan worked and I catapulted myself to land on his chest as he had turned to see what I was doing. I took him off guard and used all of my weight from the jump to kick him directly in the chest, sending him flying towards my broken tree. Shards of roots jutted out from both ends of the trunk, moving independently and attempting to reconnect themselves. Just as I had hoped, they were sturdy enough to pierce clean through his abdomen, impaling him against the base.

It was an odd sight, seeing tendrils of thick roots covered in blood protruding from his chest as they twisted slowly in their search for their missing parts. The echo of his impact barely registered over the loud bellow from his chest as he helplessly tried to claw away at the roots. But it seemed the reunion with my animal side rejuvenated them as well and made them stronger. Slashes he made in the roots quickly healed as they grew in size through him. Soon the bellows stopped, as did he.

The roots twisted and coiled, until finally, they began to make their matches with the fragments that had been left in the ground. They grew thicker and thicker, and within a few short moments I could hear the stress from them trying to pull the tree back upright. I quickly ran over to where the main part of the tree had fallen and got my hands up underneath it. In my old form I would have had no way to help it up, but combining my strength with the tree's effort could get this thing back up.

I squatted low, and put as much oomph into the lift as I could muster. At first it didn't seem to have any effect, but moments later I could feel the bulk of the tree inching upwards. The tree began its ascent, and soon I was able to squeeze underneath it and use my whole body to heave it upwards.

Please, oh please don't let this thing actually fall. I was strong, but I don't think I would be strong enough to catch the damn thing. Just a little more, Elena. Girl, you got this.

With one last surge I pushed as hard as I could up and sure enough the roots were strong enough to pull the massive tree up the rest of the way. I quickly backed up, just in case something went horribly wrong, and stood along the edge of the clearing.

As the tree had began to become upright I noticed that it had also grown in size; where Brad's body should have been between the two halves now stood a massive tree trunk. I tried to forget about the sight of him impaled on the roots, their tendrils growing through his dead body, and hoped he really _was_ dead.

The tree stood tall and broad in the sunlight, and soon all the leaves had filled out into its magnificent crown. I stood, waiting, hoping something would happen, but all that moved were the leaves in the slight wind through the forest.

But wait, wasn't something supposed to happen? I thought this is what Splinter was talking about? The roots were severed, I fixed them, so why wasn't anything happening? I walked back over to the tree and looked up and down all sides of the base. There wasn't any weird markings, secret messages, or anything that I could imagine could give me any clues as to what to do next.

"Come on!" I screamed out in anger, punching the bark; where my hand had splintered the bark quickly mended itself and within seconds you wouldn't even know it had been damaged. "Seriously?! I did everything you wanted and you're _still_ not fixed? What. The. FUCK do you WANT?!"

Of course a tree couldn't answer me. It was crazy for me to even assume it would magically start talking any minute now. I plopped down and leaned my back and head against the firm trunk, bringing my knees to my chest.

I was stuck here. I was going to die in the real world, and my soul would just poof out of existence. I couldn't help the turtles; I couldn't help Raphael. Tears pushed against my eyelids and I finally gave in to let them fall as I wept into my furry hands. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,"I blubbered to the still air around me.

I was so preoccupied with my own sorrow that I hadn't noticed tendrils of roots that had poked through the earth and snaked their way over to me. In my sobbing I hadn't seen them lash out from their position, taking hold of my limbs and snaking around my chest, holding me firmly against the tree. Yelping in reaction I tried to pull away from them, but they were much stronger than I could have even given them credit for; in hindsight they _did_ lift a massive tree upright.

I fought as best as I could, but the roots pulled me tighter and tighter against the tree. I couldn't move anything anymore, I was helpless as the base of the trunk began to expand and grow around me.

This was it. I was dead. Killed by the very thing I was thinking could save me.

The bark morphed around me, surrounding me in total darkness and silence. I had tried to take one last deep breath before being engulfed but the weight of the surrounding matter pushed it out of my chest. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. I couldn't move.

I was as good as dead. My lungs began to hurt just as they did when I was underwater, and the familiar sensation of being without oxygen burned through my very being. I wanted to scream out, but couldn't from the compression. Was this hell?

Then everything went numb. I couldn't feel anything, but at least it had stopped hurting. How long I sat in the dark I couldn't say; it could have been a few seconds, it could have been an eternity for all I knew.

A small beep got my attention, and I focused everything I could on that normally insignificant noise. I heard muffled talking, familiar voices, though the words were incomprehensible. Something brushed my hand before grasping it, but I couldn't move to figure out what it was.

"What was it, D? You said something pinged on her monitor, but she still ain't made any moves…" a voice echoed in the darkness. That voice…I know it…

A small pinprick of light seemed so far away, but it moved closer and closer towards me until I realized they were my own eyelids opening. The light hurt my eyes, and they took a split second for everything to focus, but I finally saw what I _literally_ had been dying to see forever.

I was flat on a hospital bed in the lab, and around the room there were four large green turtles talking with one another. That tattered red mask I had grown to know and love was faced away from me, talking with Donatello as he analyzed reports on a monitor. Raph had been the one holding my hand, and how I wanted to squeeze it back. My fingers didn't want to move, but I focused every ounce of strength I could muster into that one simple task.

The small movement caught his attention, and he whirled around to look at me, those green eyes fixed on mine.

Before he could mutter or gasp anything I whispered the one thing that I said the first time I saw them. "Why, hello boys…"

I was home at last.


End file.
